


Fall In Line

by DarkHououmon



Category: ChalkZone
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:23:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 262,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHououmon/pseuds/DarkHououmon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It is still sad you don't know. Sad that you aren't acknowledging what you did. That makes you all far bigger criminals than I would have expected. There's nothing I hate more than criminals who act like they did nothing wrong."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The view from the Chalklantis tower was simply amazing.

For miles all around, there was nothing but ocean. But not ordinary, plain ocean. These areas were filled with life. White, ivory-colored hills rolled all around, decorated by colorful specks that clung to the white surfaces. Tall, glowing seaweed danced, each emitting a light shield of some kind, engulfing the entire kingdom and shielding it from outside view.

Different animal life swam around here. Sharks, fish, squids, even some species never before seen. They often swam around each other, making for some really entertaining shows. Even the sharks joined in the fun, their colorful arrows plastered on their bodies making them stand out even more.

Despite being so deep in the water, light rays from the Day Zone sun still managed to come down. In all directions, rays of light shined on the ground, giving anyone who looked at it such a wonderful view. In addition to that light, there was also illumination from the tall, stalky structures located at strategic places, the rounded tips giving off a strong, yellowish glow. Tiny fish were attracted to them and they swam around like a swarm of insects.

But probably the most spectacular sight of all was that of Chalklantis itself.

Nestled in the center of all this colorful lighting and illumination and wild life laid a large cave-like structure. Round, with plenty of openings and spikes sticking out. Yet only a few openings had hatches that would open and close for visitors; most were covered by a bulbous, glass structure to prevent the water from rushing inside. These windows glowed, giving away the location if it weren’t for the shield protecting it.

On this particular day, one of the tower-like structures, a complete ring of glass going around it, had an occupant watching the scenery all around him. He had a look of apprehension on his face, his arms folded behind his back. He took in a deep breath and sighed.

This particular occupant was none other than King Zander, the ruler of Chalklantis. There was no mistaking the deer-like humanoid. Standing tall on two thin legs, black cleeved hooves touching the ground, his three digited black fingers flexing, each ending in a small, sharp claw, his deer-like face with dark brown eyes furrowed in concern, the tall, branched antlers stretching high out, bent at a slight curve. His crown, made of what appeared to be dry seaweed strung together on a lace, and his purple robes gave away his royal status.

All this matched well with his light tan fur, a line of white coloring the underside of his neck, chest, and body. His mouth and legs were colored dark brown, nearly black. Much of this was covered by the purple robe.

Normally, he would be sitting in his thrown room, going through the list of things that still needed to be done. But today, he had something else on his mind.

How long had it been since he had sent out the message? Too long. He had hoped to get a response by now. He had everything set up for the meeting. He had thought he would get a reply at this point. Yet there was nothing. He became worried, and he wondered if he should try to send out another message.

He flicked his pointed right ear, and he shook his head once. No, it should be fine. He trusted that they would get the message soon enough. He just needed to be patient. After all, it wasn’t like his kingdom was located in a on top of the ocean for all to see. Well....that was for the best, anyway.

He heard the tell tale signs of footprints approaching him. King Zander didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. A few seconds later, he could hear that familiar, slightly squeaky voice speak to him, an air of caution and respect surrounding it.

“Sire, are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked in a low voice. “I mean...sending notes to the surface? Getting his attention? Are you sure about this?”

King Zander turned to face the smaller zoner. The zoner in question was bird-like in appearance. A bronze beak jetted out from his face, looking sharper than any silverware King Zander came across. This was accentuated by his metallic feathers, razor-edged that the bird zoner could shoot out in self-defense. The zoner’s head was bowed deeply, showing a great deal of respect towards him.

King Zander gave him a small smile. “It will be all right, Kairos. I know what I am doing.”

Kairos’s flax-colored body gave a shiver. His bright orange eyes darted from left to right nervously, as if he was expecting an attack from out of nowhere. “How can you be so positive?”

At this, King Zander didn’t have an answer right away. He stared at his most loyal squire for a few seconds, pondering his words. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t have doubts himself. And yet, he still wanted to be positive about this. A single moment of doubt could ruin everything.

Besides, this situation was rather dire and must be taken care of immediately. He couldn’t do anything until they had arrived. It came with its own risks, and he was fully aware of that. But if he had to choose between which potential threat to deal with, he’d rather take the path of least resistance. The path that would ensure that everything was going to be all right in the end.

“We haven’t had outsiders here in a long time, sire...” Kairos’s voice broke through the momentary silence. “You are positive that this will be fine? What if they...”

“If I can trust what I see, then we’ll be fine.” King Zander reassured the bird.

Kairos lowered his head. “Understood, sire.” Judging from his voice, it was still clear that he was unsure of this whole business.

There was some silence in the room as King Zander reflected upon his decision. He knew that everything rided on this, and how he was going to prepare for it. Everything had to be perfect, and he had already gone to work getting everything ready. He couldn’t afford to screw this up. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen to him, and his people, if this went so very wrong.

He did his best to calm himself down before he got too worked up. He knew that they would show up. He had seen enough of them to know this. They were always so responsible, so willing to help... There was very little reason to think they’d ignore the message, or use it to their advantage and come get them. Besides, from what he was able to gather, they had always wanted to come down here, did they not?

It had been difficult deciding to allow some visitors back into Chalklantis. The last visitation hadn’t gone over well. He still had some nightmares about that. He had already agreed to no more visits and had put up a shield to render the land invisible so no one could find it. He had even concealed the kingdom in this well guarded, undersea cave, making monitoring of visitors much easier if need be.

But considering what had happened lately, he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to have some visitors for the first time in many countless decades. Not many of his citizens were pleased with his decision, but no one dared to question him. He had been a strong leader in the past. They had little reason to think he’d lead them astray this time.

King Zander soon broke the silence. “I know it was risky letting some unknown variables into our world, especially after..that time...” Kairos grimaced, clearly remembering what King Zander was talking about. “But....” He lowered his ears and sighed. He looked at the bird sorrowfully. “...Did I really have a choice...?”

Kairos hesitated for a moment. He soon shook his head. “I-I...I suppose not...” He licked his beak nervously. “I guess you really are desperate, aren’t you?” At King Zander’s glare, the bird zoner cowered, holding his wigns in front of his face. “Please forgive me, sire! I-I didn’t mean it!”

Immediately, King Zander’s face softened up. “You are forgiven, Kairos.”

“Thank you.” Kairos said, bowing his head gratefully. “You truly are a merciful king.”

Kairos was being a little overly dramatic, but King Zander decided to let it slip. After all, he had more important things to worry about than Kairos taking things a little too seriously. He raised his head up slightly. “I want you to go run through the drills again.”

“Again? I...” Kairos shut his beak as he realized what he did. “Sorry.”

King Zander pretended like nothing happened and continued on. “I know you’ve done this time and again, but this all needs to be perfect. I don’t want to leave a bad first impression.” He pointed a black finger out. “Now get going.”

“Yes, sire.” Kairos whipped his body around and took off in the air. His wings made shing sounds each time they flapped. Soon the sounds stopped entirely as he disappeared.

King Zander turned his attention towards the cylinder-shaped window again. He placed his hand against it as he looked out at the beautiful landscape all around him. It almost twisted his heart into shreds knowing that all this beauty was hiding the more sinister things that had been taking place lately.

He shut his eyes and sighed. He hoped that he had made the right choice. Otherwise, he feared for his kingdom.


	2. An Unexpected Invitation

Never before had Rudy been as excited as now.

Today’s trip into ChalkZone was originally just going to be routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual fare of adventuring, talking with Snap and other zoners, discovering new areas. The same stuff, though yet not the same stuff. They had expected to meet up with Snap and get started on their usual exploriating.

But today had been different. They realized this the moment they had walked into Snap’s house and found that he had been very excited about something. They never saw Snap this happy before, and they immediatey rushed over to him to see what was going on.

What they had seen shocked them. It took them a little while to funny comprehend what had just happened, and what Snap had revealed to them. They thought they were dreaming at first. They thought that they were going to wake up soon and they’d come into ChalkZone and none of this would have happened.

But even after pinching themselves several times, nothing changed. There was no indication that there was anything fake about this. It...it was real.

They had been invited to Chalklantis. By King Zander himself.

Rudy couldn’t help but suck in a breath when he read the letter. The king was requesting an audience with them, and even directions straight to his underwater kingdom. He was hoping that they would come as soon as possible, and said that someone would be waiting at the docks for them at all times for whenever they decided to show.

Rudy and his two friends were stunned by this proposal. They all had wanted to go to Chalklantis so badly in the past. But sadly, they had always been foiled. Something would always come up that would stop them, forcing them to delay their plans. Even when they planned the trip for months, nearly ruined by Penny almost having to go to Spain all summer, it was unfortunately cancelled because other things came up.

It had gotten to the point where they had decided to give up on Chalklantis for a while. It wasn’t a decision they liked. But they were getting sick and tired of being disappointed time and again. It was frustrating how, even when they planned ahead of time, they wouldn’t be able to go to Chalklantis of some convoluted thing would pop up. It irritated them, and there had been a point where they ended up ranting to each other about their bad luck.

But now, things seem to be finally turning to their favor. Now they have a written invitation from the king himself, wanting them to visit. He had given them directions so they no longer need to worry about looking around the ocean floor to find it.

And the fact that the king had requested them... For some reason, Rudy felt this increased their odds of finally going to that lost world.

However, for this reason, not all of them were entirely thrilled.

Penny had reservations against the idea. Not because she didn’t want to go. But it was for an entirely other reason that she was unsure.

“Oh pee shaw, Penny!” Snap waved dismissively at her. “I don’t know why you’re so unsure of this.” He spread his hands out. “Don’t you see? This is an opportunity of a life time!”

“Well yes, but...” Penny paused for a moment. She bit her lip as she tried to think of what to say. “Don’t you think this is all a little...strange?”

Rudy and Snap looked at her in confusion. Neither of them could fully understand where she was getting at. What could be confusing and unusual about being invited by a king?

Well okay, so that wasn’t common. Still, neither of them could really see anything wrong about the king of Chalklantis requesting an audience with them. To Rudy, the king had probably heard of him and his heroics and he wanted Rudy to help him out with something. Or perhaps he just wanted to see the magic halk in action for himself.

Rudy, however, did not dismiss Penny’s concern. Looking at her face, he could tell she had some level of worry about the whole thing. It would be wrong to act as if her opinion didn’t matter. “What is on your mind, Penny?”

Penny furrowed her eyes with concern. “Rudy...don’t you find it odd that a lost king from a lost civilization would send a letter to the surface, directly to us I might add, and ask us to come down?” She looked from Snap and Rudy. When she saw she wasn’t getting an answer, she pressed on, “I mean, think about it. Chalklantis is considered a lost world. Isolated from society. Even many zoners on the surface doubt its existence.”

Rudy nodded his head slowly. Penny was correct on that detail. A number of zoners scoffed at their plans of going to Chalklantis, as it had been reduced to a fable. A fairy tale told to zoners as nothing more than entertainment. Rudy had wanted to believe it was real so badly, and he thought it would be fascinating to meet such an ancient culture of people, regardless of what the others said to him.

But that still didn’t help him understand where Penny was coming from. He was certain that she had a good reason for her doubts. He just....couldn’t fully understand them at the moment. He remained quiet and gestured for her to continue.

Penny looked a little disappointed, as if she thought he would understand right away where she was getting at. “When was the last time that Chalklantis had contact with anyone on the surface?”

Snap rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I think it was probably hundreds of years ago.” He paused. “Definitely way before I was created. I think even before Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard, too.” Rudy said, raising a finger as he continued from where Snap left off. “They are both at least three hundred years old, and I think they are actually even older than that. Most zoners we’ve met don’t remember that far back.”

“Precisely.” Penny said.

This caused Rudy and Snap to look at each other in confusion.

“We don’t get it, Penny.” Rudy said. “Can you please just get to the point?”

“All right then. I’ll spell it out for you.” Penny cleared her throat. She raised up a finger, gesturing with it as she began to speak to Rudy and Snap, explaining to them exactly what she was thinking about the whole thing. “Since no one in Chalklantis has been to the surface in hundreds of years, and they have been out of contact for so long, then how do they know about us? How did they know where Snap lived to send the notes to? And why, after all this time, would the king suddenly be interested in getting to know someone on the surface? How did he even find out about you?”

Rudy paused for a moment. “Well...Maybe someone reported down to him and...”

Penny shot him a small glare. “How, Rudy? Remember, Chalklantis had been out of contact with the rest of ChalkZone for a long time. Exactly how would they be able to have anyone report to them without exposing their location? Most zoners still think Chalklantis is a myth! If there was regular communication, I could see it being possible. But...what are the odds of that?”

Rudy couldn’t think of anything to say to that. He let Penny’s words buzz inside of his head. Slowly, realization began to grow, starting from the base of his neck, curving upward and across the top of his skull.

Penny had a good point. Just how did King Zander know about him and his deeds? The letter indicated that he had heard a lot about him. But how could he if Chalklantis was separated from the rest of ChalkZone? How would he even know where to send the letters to?

He could now understand why Penny was so cautious about the whole thing.

Snap, on the other hand, had his own ideas. “I think you might be overreacting there, Buckette.” Snap said, pointing his hand towards the girl. Penny stared at him. Snap didn’t hesitate to continue. “I mean, yes...sure it sounds weird. But haven’t you ever heard of legends of your own Atlantis in the Real World? Isn’t it said to have high levels of technology far beyond what you have now?”

“Well, yes, but...”

“Then what’s so odd about Chalklantis having the same thing?” Snap shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the king has advanced sonar or cameras or something because he and his citizens are curious about surface life and they are just too shy to come up. For all we know, Chalklantis had been attacked time and agin and they have just become wary of newcomers.”

Penny nodded her head slowly. “You might have a good point there, Snap.”

“I know I do.” Snap said with a playful smirk.

Penny then shook her head slowly. “But I still can’t agree. Something about this whole thing just feels too strange. Even if he had that technology like you said, why would he wait so long to speak to us? If he was so worried and if he had that high tech stuff, couldn’t he just send a zoner up here and speak to us through him? He could have gotten to know us that way. Instead of spying on us or whatever else is going on and...”

Penny stopped speaking at that point. She took in a few quick breaths. Her voice had risen in pitch a little. Rudy could hear the emotion and frustration dripping from her voice. Rudy had never seen her sound that worried before.

“I’m sorry.” Penny said softly. “I just...feel really strange about this whole thing.”

Snap shook his head, his facial expression that of disappointment. “I’m really surprised at you, Penny. Here we are, about to embark on a journey of a lifetime, and you want to ruin it by questioning our host!”

Penny glared at Snap. “It’s not that! I just...” She looked away, stumbling over her words as her expression softened up. “There’s just something I can’t shake off about this whole thing.”

Snap eyed her for a few moments. “Maybe you’re just feeling stressed out?”

“Yeah...maybe.” Penny said softly.

Rudy looked at Penny sympathetically. Things had been a little more stressful for her lately. She was getting ready for a contest that was coming up in about a week or two. Rudy couldn’t remember the exact date, but it was a contest to win a large sum of money. Penny wanted to win it for her mother so they could expand her mother’s vet clinic and hopefully hire some more help.

Things had been getting tough for the Sanchezes lately. More animals. More work. More stress. It was little surprise that as soon as Penny heard about the contest, she jumped at the chance to help her mother.

Rudy did think that Snap had a good point. Penny might just be more on edge lately because of what was happening at home. This gave even more reason for them to visit Chalklantis. Penny needed some time away from home, and going to a lost city may be the perfect mini-vacation that she needed to calm her nerves.

He hoped that Penny would be a ble to control her suspicions while there. He didn’t want the king of Chalklantis to become offended by Penny’s accusations, even if they were wordless. They were going to a kingdom. A monarchy. Things will be different. They must tread lightly.

He turned his head towards the ground as he thought about what his friends said. He could feel them staring at him expectantly, eagerly waiting to hear what he thought about the whole thing. They didn’t even need to ask him; just their looks alone were enough for him to know what they wanted.

After a few moments’ silence, he spoke. “I think you both have some good points.” He turned to look at his friends one at a time. He then focused on Penny. “I do think Snap is right. I think you are under a lot of stress lately and that’s affecting your judgment. It’s not like you to accuse someone we have never met of trying to wrong us.”

Penny lowered her gaze. “Yeah, I know...”

Rudy then turned to Snap. “But Penny also has a point, Snap. It is strange that a lost city would try to contact us, when they realistically shouldn’t know we exist. I also agree that if the king wanted to get to know us, and if he had the technology, he could send someone in his place without exposing his kingdom in case we were untrustworthy.” He paused for a moment, and looked down at the invitation. “All of this did seem to happen so suddenly. After all our failed attempts, it’s almost too good to be true for us to finally go there.”

Snap frowned for a few seconds as he processed what Rudy told him. From the looks of it, Snap wanted to argue back his point. He quickly stopped himself, however, annd nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, you might be right, Bucko.” He looked over at Penny. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Snap. No need to apologize.” Penny said with a smile.

Rudy added in, “I do think that some caution is necessary. But let’s not overdo it. It is best that we show the king proper respect, but not act as if we have something to hide. The worst thing we can do is offend the king.”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah, I know that. If this king operates like any Real World one, then a single misstep is all that it would take.”

Snap smiled at this. “I don’t think you have much to worry about. We’re always careful!”

“Just be careful of what you say.” Penny stared at Snap, giving him a small frown.

Snap blinked at this. He raised his hands at his sides. “What are you talking about, Buckette? I’m always...”

“Speaking too fast of what’s on your mind. You are really quite bold in what you say, like when you told Rudy to bop Skrawl when he was trying to help him.” Penny shook her head slowly. “Out of all of us, I’m most worried about you screwing things up.”

Snap narrowed his eyes at this. He took a step forward and pointed a hand towards Penny. “Hey hey hey! Where are you getting this idea? Since when have I ever...”

Penny folded her arms against her chest. “Don’t make me give a countdown list.”

“Guys! Stop arguing!” Rudy rushed forward. He stood between his two friends, holding out his hands. “Arguing and bickering will get us nowhere.” He looked at his friends for a few seconds, glaring softly at thim. He then shut his eyes. “We all should be careful in what we say. Any one of us could mess this up.”

It was true. Although Rudy did agree with Penny that Snap was the most vocal and most likely candidate, he couldn’t rule himself out, or Penny either. They had never been in contact with many royals in ChalkZone before. They had little experience. They were so used to speaking freely with anyone, that it would be easy for any of them to mess up with the king of Chalklantis. And since they would be in his jurisdiction and not the surface, there’d be nothing their friends could do to help them.

But he didn’t think they should argue about this. It was just a waste of time, and they needed to focus on getting ready to go. Especially if they want to get there as soon as they could without any more interruptions showing up. After getting the invitation, Rudy did not want this chance to slip out of their fingers.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Rudy said, “Come on, you guys. Let’s focus on preparing for our trip to Chalklantis.”

Snap nodded his head. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Though Penny was still hesitant, she didn’t try to argue back. “When do you think would be a good time for us to leave?”

Rudy paused for a moment. Then he said, “That’s what we’re going to find out.”

With that, he and his friends sat down in Snap’s kitchen and started to discuss their plans for what they were going to do regarding Chalklantis and King Zander’s letter.

sss

It had taken a while for them to fully decide on what they were going to do. There were several disagreements on how things should be handled. Even the time of when they should go was debated, whether or not to go earlier or later. Snap wanted to leave as soon as possible. Penny wanted them to wait a little and make sure they were fully prepared. Rudy tried to mediate between the two, but it was hard for him to decide.

Eventually, they came to an agreement. They were going to leave for Chalklantis tomorrow morning. That was the best time for them to go. Not only was it a weekend, but Rudy and Penny were scheduled for a field trip that day. They planned to take full advantage of it.

Rudy and Penny had the brilliant plan of having their parents believe they went, while having the teachers believe they were too sick to come. It would be a little tricky to pull off, but they believed they could do it so long as they timed it right. It wasn’t like the school was going to call them to check on how they were doing anyway.

But they weren’t out of the woods yet. There was still something else they had to do. And that was find a way into ChalkZone without alerting the school or their parents to what was going on.

This took a while to figure out. They discussed it for much longer than any of them would have thought. Their heads began to hurt as they debated and discussed just how they were going to pull this off. Timing was everything. If they did one thing wrong, someone was going to find out and they might as well kiss their whole trip goodbye.

That was when Snap came to the rescue with an idea of his own. Since it was going to be a school field trip, he thought that maybe they could lie to their parents and tell them about how the teacher said that they were going to meet in a different location for the pick up, and just say that they got there really early.

Rudy and Penny weren’t entirely sure how well this would work, but it was the best idea they could come up with. They thanked Snap for the idea, and he simply grinned at them and commented how he wasn’t Rudy’s greatest creation for nothing. This got a brief chuckle out of the two kids.

Now that they had the plan figured out, they could begin to discuss what they would do when they got there. In whatever destination they chose, even after they figured out how to slip away without a trace or any evidence, they still needed to plan how they were going to go about going to Chalklantis.

Penny suggested that they go to the Wait ‘N Sea, around where Rudy and Snap were going to go that one time before Bobby Sue and her family showed up to take Rudy away to a wedding. Rudy and Snap agreed that it would be a good place to go to prepare for the journey. The water levels and the sand height was perfect for creating a submarine to get into to take them to Chalklantis.

At least this time, they don’t have to worry about Bobby Sue and her relatives. They hadn’t been heard from since Snap and some other zoners tricked her into thinking Rudy was having an affair with several other zoners. Rudy felt a little bad about having her hate him like that, but Snap reminded him it was either that, or he would be forced to marry against his will. Rudy eventually agreed it was for the best.

Now that they had a time and location set, the only thing left was to prepare. They didn’t know exactly how long they were going to stay, but they figured it would only be for a few hours. They still needed to bring some supplies with them, especially if they ended up staying longer.

Rudy drew Snap some food and water for the trip, as well as any odds and ends he might need, such as an extra outfit or two, some bandages and medicine on the off chance that he might need them, and whatever else he could think of without overdoing it. He made Snap a couple new briefcases for him to use. Snap promised to have it all packed up tonight so he’d be ready tomorrow morning.

He created a suitcase for him and Penny to use as well. He drew them both some nice clothes to wear in case they need to change. But he realized he wouldn’t be able to draw any medicine, water, or food for them in case they needed it. And they wouldn’t get much from eating the chalk variants. So they would need to pack things from their home.

It wouldn’t be easy. They would have to do this at night, when their folks were asleep. They would need to be as quiet as they can, and make a few sandwiches and pack some snacks for the trip. They would also need to take a few aspirin and at least two water bottles, tightly secured, in case they needed to quench their thirst.

Soon, that little problem, and all three of them would have their suitcases ready for the trip tomorrow morning. They talked to each other for a while longer to rehearse how they were going to pull this off. Only when they had the plan perfected and memorized did Rudy and Penny head off to bed, as well as Snap. They prepared for the day tomorrow.

sss

Rudy couldn’t believe how slow the night had passed. He must have woken up every hour, staring at the clock before sighing in disappointment and shutting his eyes. He wished the day would come faster already. Just how long did it take for the sun to rise anyway?

He was relieved when the sun finally rose. Even though it was a little early, he had immediately gotten out of bed to get ready. This gave him some extra time to place his suitcases in ChalkZone for Snap to hold onto, something that he had neglected to do before. He hoped Penny would remember. He was sure she would, though. She was smart like that.

While his parents were still asleep, Rudy made the crucial phone call. He spoke with the principal and told her that he wasn’t feeling too good and that his parents wanted him to call because they were too sore to even speak themselves. Rudy was surprised when the lie worked, and Principal Stringent let him go and wished him to get well. With that out of the way, he could now begin to focus on the other parts of the plan.

His parents were surprised that he was up so early, but didn’t question it. They just figured he was very excited for the field trip, something that Rudy didn’t attempt to correct them on. His mother made him breakfast. He gobbled it up quickly, complimenting his mother about how good it was.

It didn’t take long for Mrs. Sanchez to show up. Rudy immediately got up to leave, waving goodbye to his parents. He heard his parents comment about how excited he must be for this field trip. Soon Rudy hopped in the car, strapped himself in, and they were on their way.

As they drove along, Rudy let his thoughts wander. He had to admit, he was a little nervous about this trip. He had no idea what to expect. It was so exciting, and yet so terrifying. He could feel his body shake in anticipation. After all this time, they were finally going to Chalklantis.

“Are you two sure this is where the teachers were picking you up?” Mrs. Sanchez’s voice cut Rudy out of his thoughts. “I don’t see anyone here.”

Rudy took a look around and realized that they had arrived at their destination. The local library. Penny’s mom had parked in the lot near the door. She was looking around, her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she didn’t see anyone else here, besides other library goers.

“Oh yes.” Penny said quickly. “Mr. Wilter specifically told us here. They will be by soon. We just arrived a little early.”

“Oh I see. Well, I could stay with you kids until...”

“No!” Rudy exclaimed. Mrs. Sanches gave him a funny look. Rudy smiled nervously at this. He quickly realized what he had just sounded like. “What I mean to say is we can just spend time in the library while we wait for them to come.”

“Yeah, mom. We’ll be fine.” Penny said, trying to reassure her mother.

“Are you sure, Penita?” Her mother asked. From the tone of her voice, Rudy and Penny could tell she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of leaving them alone. “I don’t mind waiting with you.”

“Yeah I’m sure. We will be fine, mama.” Penny smiled the best she could. “Rudy and I won’t be alone for long. We’ll just hang out in the kids’ area while we wait.”

“Well I suppose so...” Mrs. Sanchez paused for a moment, furrowing her eyes as she tried to think of what she was going to do. Rudy and Penny watched her intently, keeping silent as they waited to hear her final decision. Then she gave a smile and nodded her head. “Well okay. I do need to get back home and take care of the animals anyway. They can’t wait that long.”

At this, Rudy opened up the vehicle door and got out. He turned around and looked over at Penny. He noticed she hadn’t gotten out yet. Her mother had leaned over and kissed her daughter on her forehead.

“Have a fun day at the museum, Penita.” Mrs. Sanchez said. “Take care.”

“I will, mom. Don’t worry.” Penny said as she climbed out of the vehicle and joined Rudy at his side. She waved her hand to her mother. “Bye!”

Her mother raised her hand to signal a return bye. The vet backed up her yellow vehicle and began to drive back to Penny’s place.

The two children looked at each other, smiling at one another. They needn’t say a word to understand what their facial expressions were trying to tell them. This was it. Today was the day. There was no going back now. They slowly turned around and made their way towards the library.

Heading inside, they were relieved to see there weren’t too many people inside. And those who were inside were too busy browsing for books, or reading books on the bean bag chairs or regular chairs or at the table to really notice them. The librarian wasn’t exactly looking in their direction either, his face buried in the newspaper.

All this just made their task easier. They simply snuck around the back of the library, moving through the corridors of books, making sure their steps were light, making as little noise as they could. They soon reached the back part of the library, were a small office with a computer and chalkboard were located. Normally this place was occupied by someone, but they had picked the right time and said person was on a bathroom break.

“We need to make this quick.” Penny said in a low, hushed whisper.

“Yeah, I know.” Rudy said, reaching over and opening the door. “This shouldn’t take long.”

Soon they were in the small office. There wasn’t a lot of room to move around. There were a few boxes, some toys, and several books on the ground. The computer area was covered in papers and the computer looked old and dusty. It was a wonder that they were even still using it. The chalkboard itself was pushed to the side and didn’t look like it was used at all for years.

Rudy whipped his head around to make sure he and Penny still had time. He then turned his attention back to the chalkboard. He reached over and he began to draw a portal. In a few seconds, the portal flashed and opened up.

As soon as he did, he and Penny stiffened up at the sound of footsteps. The person was returning. They looked at each other, their eyes widened in horror. They quickly rushed through the portal, causing it to wobble from the shere force. Rudy quickly erased it, nearly losing his hand in the process.

The two children panted heavily for a few seconds, unable to believe what had happened. Rudy could have sworn that he heard the door open just as soon as he stared to erase. He hoped that the person didn’t see anything.

Penny looked over at him. As soon as she caught her breath, she said, “That...was close...”

Rudy nodded in agreement. “Yeah...” Afther he managed to catch his breath at last, Rudy straightened himself up and looked in the direction where Snap was going to meet them. “Well, are you ready?”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

sss

Denny narrowed his eyes as he heard something from his office. He grumbled softly to himself. He was already having a rough day at work with having to do the stupid paperwork all the time. He didn’t need something else to be concerned about.

The medium sized man, slightly on the heavy side, wearing a blue button-up shirt and dark brown pants, his fingers thick and strong, eyes a near blazing green, his hair long and strawberry blonde, moved down the corridor at great speed without breaking into a run. He formed fists with his hands as he moved his arms back and forth, his eyes focused intently on the door to his office in front of him.

He did see small shadows stretched along the floor. This caused him to grit his teeth in annoyance. He knew exactly what was going on.

It was one of those brats again. He swore, they needed to make this library adult-only. He was getting tired of having to pick up after the kids. Putting things away back in order. Picking up stuffed animals and putting them back. Picking up their disgusting trash and throwing it away. Every day, it was the same thing. He was getting tired of it. And that wasn’t even getting into how those stupid kids treated him.

Well this time, he was not going to take this lying down. As soon as he got his hands on the brats that invaded his office, he was going to call their parents and have a stern talking to them about how they were raising their kids. Good children should be seen and not heard. They should be sitting down, doing nothing, not running around, screaming, throwing things on the ground. None of that.

“You little brats...” Denny growled, hissing through his teeth. “This time, you aren’t getting away from me...” He grabbed the door knob and swung it open. With a twisted smile, he cried, “Gotcha!” His smile quickly faded at what he saw.

Nothing. There was no one here. With wide, shocked eyes, he looked left and right, but saw no trace of any child.

He couldn’t help but get a headache as confusion wracked through him. There was no way he could have imagined that, right? He didn’t just think he heard a child. He knew he did. He wasn’t some deranged schizo. He knows what he saw and heard. Those brats must be hiding somewhere.

He looked over at his chalkboard, and noticed something was wrong with it. He could see some new dust marks. A swirl kind of shape, almost circular. The eraser had also fallen off the easel, landing on the ground not far. He never touched the chalkboard. He could feel his blood heating up. This was proof that someone was in his office.

Well, if those brats think they are going to get away with this, they had another think coming. He would find them sooner or later. He wasn’t sure how yet, but he would think of something.

He would make sure no child ever messed with him again.

sss

“I thought you guys would never get here!” Snap cried as he raced to join his friends. He wasn’t sure how long he had waited for them. The excitement of going to Chalklantis made him lose track of time. “Are you guys all ready to go?”

Up ahead of him, he could see Rudy and Penny racing over to join him. They looked pretty tired, but were otherwise smiling at him. It didn’t take them too long to reach him.

“Yes, of course we are!” Rudy said with a grin. “Did you bring our stuff?”

Snap nodded his head. He stepped aside and motioned with his hands. “I brought them here just as you asked me to, Bucko!”

Situated behind Snap were the suitcases. It hadn’t been easy for Snap to drag them here on his own, but he managed to do it. He organized the suitcases in groups. One was his, one was Rudy’s, and one was Penny’s. He even had a label on each of them so they knew which one belonged to whom.

“Great work, Snap!” Rudy said as he smiled down at his creation.

“Oh don’t worry about it, Bucko!” Snap said. It was hard to fight back the smile spreading along his face, stretching out his facial skin. “So how about it, Bucko? Work out that magic chalk and let’s get going!”

Rudy nodded his head. He reached into his pocket. He looked over and stared at Penny. “Are you ready, Penny?”

The girl hesitated for a moment. There was a brief look of doubt in her eyes. Then she licked her lips slowly and nodded her head once. “Y-Yeah. I’m ready.”

Rudy looked at her in concern. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Penny said. “Let’s get going.”

Snap frowned softly at Penny. He could tell that she still felt nervous about the trip. While he didn’t really agree with her concerns, he did understand on some level why she was having them. It was always scary going to a new place. It was always wise to hae some level of caution rather than waltzing in as if nothing bad was going to happen.

He walked towards Penny. He stared at her silently for a moment. Then he reached out and placed his hand against her arm. Penny looked down at him in surprise. Snap smiled at her, gently squeezing her arm.

“It will be okay, Penny. I promise.” Snap said, reassuring the girl.

Penny smiled back at him. “Thanks, Snap.”

Rudy smiled at his two friends for a few moments. He then spoke up. “You two ready to go?”

Snap and Penny nodded their heads once and spoke in unison. “Yes!”

“Okay then. Let me get our ride ready, and we’ll be on our way!”

Snap smiled, feeling his heart swell in excitement. He and Penny watched in awed silence as Rudy began to sketch the submarine. As they did, Snap let everything start to sink in. In a short amount of time, they would finally be entering Chalklantis, a dream that he and his friends had been pursuing for a long time. It was still so hard to believe that it was now finally coming true.

This was truly going to be the best day ever.


	3. At Long Last

Rudy had spent a little while longer on drawing the submarine that he had intended. Perhaps it was the shere excitement of the trip. Perhaps it was the nervousness of going somewhere they had never been before. Whatever the cause, it resulted in him drawing a more elaborate submarine than perhaps was necessary.

After about a few minutes of drawing, working out all the details, adding in the features, Rudy was finally done. Smiling, he took a few steps back to admire his creation.

The submarine was a bright silver with some cold linings around it, made out of strong enough material to withstand the pressure of water. The shape was elongated, with a bulbous front made of strong, clear glass that allowed them to look out into the ocean. It was equipped with all the lights and digging supplies they would need. In the back were strong propellors that would push them through the water. It was also large enough to support them and their luggage they were going to bring with.

It was perfect.

Rudy drew a remote and pushed a button. This activated the side door. It detached itself and, with a loud whirr sound, lowered towards the ground, revealing some steep yet strong stairs.

"Let's go." Rudy said.

Working together, he and his friends managed to carry all the suitcases over in one trip, despite how heavy they were. Penny commented on how heavy Snap's suitcases were. Snap insisted he only brought the essentials, but upon opening it, it was revealed that he had brought a ton more snacks. This earned him a quick glare from Penny, but Snap shrugged it off and stated that Rudy's submarine could take anything.

Rudy was also surprised by how much stuff Snap brought and he told the blue zoner how he should have said something earlier. Although he didnt' really know if his submarine could carry the extra weight, since he hadn't counted on Snap's bags being so heavy, he decided the only way to find out was to give it a try.

After he ordered Penny and Snap to take a seat, and after he heard their seatbelts click so they were secured in plae, Rudy went towards the front of the submarine, where there was a curved panel with many lights. In the center where he was, there were buttons, break and accelerator like in a car, and of course a steering wheel. He locked himself in place, turned the submarine on, and off they went.

The first thing that happened was a bunch of spider-like legs shot out from the sides. They cracked and tapped as they moved against the soft, sandy beach. It then walked forward towards the water. Slow, steady, side-to-side movement almost like a crocodile. But they were making good progress.

"Nice chalkin', Bucko!" Snap said as he pressed his hand against the window. He looked down and smiled in awe at the mechanical spider legs that Rudy drew. "These should get us there in no time!"

"Although you could have just drawn the submarine in the water." Penny pointed out.

Rudy smiled nervously at this. "Sorry, I didn't think about it at the time." He turned his attention back towards the front. He could feel the tip of the spider legs now touch the water. "Okay, we're going in."

Slowly, as Rudy continued to press down on the accelerator, the submarine moved itself deeper into the water. The cold liquid soon consumed the entire submarine save for part of the top. With a loud creak, the legs retracted, soon replaced by mechanical fins, which Rudy added for better steering. Then, with a push of a button, the submarine dove down. The water covered the top, and with one bubble popping at the top, the submarine was completely submerged in the water.

Slowly, they descended downward. The threed children looked left and right as they took in their surroundings. At first, there wasn't really too much to see. They could see the light rays from above shining down on them, illuminating the water. Down much further below, there were dark spots from where the light could no longer reach. There were a few seaweeds and some swimming zoners. But other than that, not much that they didn't already know about.

After a few moments of descent, it began to get a little dark. Upon Penny's suggestion, Rudy flipped on the lights, making them bask in the soft, warm glow. With another switch, he turned on the submarine's search light, which made it so much easier to see where they were going. Rudy pressed on the accelerator further, and, with a loud whirring sound behind them as the back blades spun around and around, the submarine propelled itself forward and they were on their way.

Rudy couldn't help but smile as the submarine made its way forward at a steady pace. He didn't know how long they would be underwater, but based on rumors of what he had heard, Chalklantis shouldn't be too far away. It would be maybe at most half an hour.

But...this was provided if the rumors were true. Sure, all the zoners had always said the same thing about where it was. But perhaps they were false? Maybe it was located much further out? Or even on another part of Chalk Earth? Rudy bit his lip nervously at this. He narrowed his eyes in determination. There was only one way to find out. Besides, it won't take that long to find Chalklantis, right?

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Snap called out in excitement. His hands were placed together and he had the biggest grin either the two human children had seen on him. "I can't believe it." He spread his hands out into the air. "We're finally going to Chalklantis!"

"Yeah, it's really quite incredible." Penny said. Though she still had a slight apprehension to her tone, it was clear to both the boys she was still just as excited as them about this. "I still find it hard to believe we're finally going."

Rudy nodded in agreement. "Yeah... This is going to be one trip that we'll never forget."

As Rudy pressed the accelerator plate harder to move faster, he could hear Snap's excited cry behind him, "Chalklantis, here we come!"

sss

"Chalklantis, we are looking for you. Where are you?" Snap grumbled as he looked left and right. He let out a soft sigh. "Rudy, do you know if we're even close?"

"I'm sorry, Snap. I'm looking, but I am not seeing anything that looks like an underwater city." Rudy turned his head from one side to the other. "I wonder if we might have passed it."

"Or we could be going the right way." Penny rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "But...it would be hard to tell." She looked out the window again. After a few moments, she sighed and looked back at Rudy. "But you are correct. There's no sign of any buildings here."

Snap nodded. "Just a bunch of undersea mountains." He mumbled softly." He closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his forehead. "We've been searching for hours."

Penny stared over at Snap. "It's only been about ten minutes, Snap." She held up her hand in gesture. "It's going to take a lot longer than that to find this place."

"Yeah? Well it sure feels a lot longer." Snap stretched himself over the left arm of his chair. He didn't care if he looked like a pouting little child. He just wanted them to be there already. "Wake me up when we get there."

"Snap..."

Snap ignored the comments from his friends as he shut his eyes. He wasn't really going to go to sleep. He just felt like resting his eyes because he was starting to get a headache. He had been thinking a little too hard on how they were going to get there. He had gotten a little too frustrated on how long it was taking. So perhaps it would be best if he tried to relax a little and enjoy the ride.

Rudy did design this submarine quite well. The ride was rather smooth. No bumps or jerks or anything. It was almost like they weren't moving at all, a notion easily disproving if he looked out the window of the submarine.

He wished he could relax a little better. Perhaps his overexcitement about coming on this journey had made him a little impatient. He didn't mean to be. He didn't want to sound like those annoying brats on road trips, constantly asking 'are we there yet?'. Yet, that's exactly what he wanted to keep asking Rudy.

Are they there yet?

Snap forced himself to take in a deep breath, slowly exhaling. Getting worked up and upset about not being there wasn't going to solve anything. Besides, he trusted Rudy too much to get this upset. Rudy would figure out where to go. He always did.

After a few minutes with no end in sight. Snap found himself lifting up his head. It wasn't very comfortable laying down like this. And it only seemed to make his headache worse. He let out a soft groan and rubbed his head, leaning back against the back of his chair. He turned his head to stare out the window.

No surprise, they were still moving through the ocean. It was a pretty sight at first, seeing all the schools of fish and the sharks and seaweed, but it quickly became boring. That's all they would see, amongst the rocks and the light rays. It became repetitive really quickly, making Snap wonder when they were going to find something different.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he paused. He didn't want to annoy Rudy by asking him if they had arrived yet. He didn't want to sound whiney. He was just going to need to pass the time doing something else. But what? What could he do in the submarine that could pass the time without being a disruption to Rudy?

Well, there was always that card game he brought with. Or maybe just chit chat. Penny wasn't driving this submarine, so she was available. Hmm...but what to talk about? Snap let out a small, quiet groan was he was unable to think of anything that wouldn't just increase his excitement for Chalklantis, which in turn would have increased his frustration of them not being there already.

"Rudy, did you see anything that looked different? Anything that would tell us if we were going the right way?" Penny asked, cutting off the silence.

Rudy shook his head. "No. It all looks the same here." Rudy leaned forward, a small frown on his face as he scanned the land below him. "There's no signs of construction or any buildings here. It all looks like rock and whatever else you'd find at the bottom of the ocean." There was an air of disappointment in his voice. "I knew it was going to be far, but..."

Penny cut him off. "They never said it was going to be that close. Besides, what if we're looking for the wrong thing?"

"What?" Rudy and Snap looked over at Penny in confusion. Snap wondered what she was talking about. They were looking for the right signs, wheren't they? Buildings weren't that hard to miss.

Penny folded her arms against her chest, her eyes furrowed softly. "What I mean is, what if we are supposed to look for something that isn't noticeable? I mean, think about it, guys." She looked over at Snap and Rudy. "If the citizens of Chalklantis didn't want to be found, do you really think they would use material that could be easily seen? What if they used something more...natural, that would be harder to find to the untrained eye?"

"Hmm...you're right, Penny." Rudy's eyes widened slightly. "We might have already passed it..."

"Or we are going to, if we aren't careful." Penny pointed out.

Snap paused for a moment at this. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Penny did have a good point there. He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of that before. It made sense. The Chalklantians would indeed choose something less conspicuous if they wanted to hide their beloved city.

But this could pose a problem. If the Chalklantians did indeed create a camouflage for their city, that meant that he and his friends would need to work even harder to find it. Snap could already feel the pounding headache come on when he thought about just how long it was going to take. Surely, there had to be a faster way to...

Suddenly, Penny's shrill voice cut through the air. "Rudy! Watch out!"

"What?" Rudy whirled around. "Oh no! Hang on, you guys!"

Snap and Penny immediately gripped the arms of their chairs as tightly as they could. They gritted their theeth as their eyes widened in horror as Rudy pulled the steering wheel back, the flapping of the fins causing the submarine to dart upwards suddenly, narrowly missing the underwater rocky spike that they nearly collided with.

Before, Snap couldn't feel the submarine moving. Now, as they rushed upward, not only did he feel it, but he was starting to get an upset stomach. He rubbed his belly as he could feel his food threatening to come back up through his mouth.

Then, with a sharp turn forwards, the submarine was suddenly horizontal again. The force nearly knocked the three children out of their seats. If they hadn't been buckled in, they would have been thrust forward. The submarine was hauled to a complete stop, and the children took in quick breaths to try to settle themselves down.

"Is everyone okay?" Rudy managed to ask between breaths.

"I'm fine." Penny said.

"Same for me. I..." Snap put his hand over his mouth as he retched. He thought he could taste the remnants of his breakfast on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed, giving a shudder, and he smiled. "I'm all right."

Wow, that was one crazy ride. It only lasted a few seconds, but the after affects plagued them for much longer than that. Snap could feel his heart threaten to jump out of his chest. He pressed his hand against it, feeling each thud, feeling it in his head. He could still feel the adrenaline pumping through his body.

Well at least it was over now. He and his friends could finally relax. He made a note to himself not to allow Rudy to turn his head away from the 'road' again. Next time, they might not be so lucky.

As Snap continued to struggle catching his breath, he turned his gaze down towards the ground, where he happened to notice something. He turned his head to one side curiously. It looked familiar, and yet, from this angle and distance, it was hard to tell if he was seeing things right. He unbuckled himself to get a closer look.

"Snap? What is it?"

He ignored Penny's question as he moved towards the item on the ground. As he got closer, he recognized it as the envelope he had gotten before. The force of Rudy's dodging manuevers must have caused it to fall out of his pocket. He knelt down and picked it up.

He reached inside and pulled out the pieces of paper. The first one was the letter from the king. The other one, however, caused him to pause.

It was the map to Chalklantis. Snap felt like slapping himself in the face. He couldn't believe that he and his friends had failed to notice this from before. How could they have been so...so stupid?

"Hey Bucko?" Snap approached his friend towards the front. Rudy looked at him curiously. His green eyes moved down to see the piece of paper that he held in his hands. "I think this might make things run a little smoother."

Penny, who had unbuckled herself too, walked forward. Her eyes locked onto the paper, he said, "Is that...?"

Rudy nodded his head as he held the paper in his hands. "The map." He face palmed himself. "I can't believe we forgot all about this!" He gave a nervous chuckle. "I guess we were all so excited to finally go that we..." His voice trailed off. He sighed and bit his lip. "Well we can't correct the past, now can we?"

Penny placed the tip of her finger against her chin. She looked at the map that Rudy now held. After a few moments, she looked at Rudy. "You could draw a navigation system on this, can't you? And then you could have it scan in that map and it could create a 3D map."

"Are you sure, Buckette?" Snap frowned softly as he stared at the map. "This doesn't provide too much clues to..."

"Yes they do. See these lines?" Penny pressed a finger against the map, causing it to wobble slightly. "These are contour lines. They help to indicate the height of something. The computer can easily use this to determine the gneeral structure of the land."

"General?" Snap raised an eyebrow.

"That could work..." Rudy raised up his magic chalk. He narrowed his eyes softly as he looked from the chalk and to the map. He paused for a moment, as if to think of exactly where to put it. "Back up, you guys."

Penny and Snap watched in silence as Rudy quickly sketched something up to the right of where he sat. Snap was always impressed with how quickly Rudy could draw sometimes. Sure, he wasn't the fastest artist he's ever seen. But he was still quite quick, which came in handy for situations like this. He didn't know when the king was expecting them, but he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to arrive too late.

It didn't take long for Rudy to create the device that Penny suggested. Now present in the submarine was a tall, thin monitor with a slot where the papers would go for scanning. There was a touch keyboard floating in the air, colored green. There were a few lights that shimmered and flickered as the computer went to work after Rudy placed the paper inside. A few beeps and flashes later, the screen lit up, and now placed in there was a 3D model of the ocean floor as indicated by the map.

Snap stared at it in awe, as did Rudy and Penny. There weren't too many details shown. Any animals or plants were absent, as were stray rocks. But the general structure was there. It looked almost like clay or a bad 3D model in cheap movies. They could see the bumpiness of the ocean floor, as well as structures that jetted out.

And right around in the middle, they could see a round, slightly spikey structure that appeared to be highlighted. Upon looking at the map, which was spat out, Snap could see that it was the same thing that was circled on King Zander's map.

"That must be Chalklantis." Penny said, noticing the structure as well.

"How far do you think it is?" Snap asked, staring at Penny curiously. "Would you be able to find out?"

Penny spent a few moments looking at the map. Her eyes scanned it up and down. After a few moments, she swiveled her head towards the right, and pointed. "According to that map, Chalklantis is that way."

Rudy nodded his head. "Okay, get back in your seats and we'll be on our way."

Penny and Snap quickly did as they were told. As soon as they were buckled in, Rudy pushed his foot on the accelerator once more, and they were on their way.

sss

It was difficult for the trio look away from the unexpected beauty. Their eyes widened as they took in the sight all around them. Rudy had slowed down the submarine so they could all get a nice, long look at the landscape.

The shiny, ivory landscape, complete with colorful specks that glittered in the rays of the Day Zone sun, were quite a spectacle to see. Even from far away, they had seen it long before they even got here. The ivory land contrasted, almost painfully so, compared to the rest of the ocean floor they had visited.

The land itself was covered in glowing seaweed and tall, stalky structures looking almost like natural street lamps. This provided the illumination which allowed them to see this spot from afar.

The wild life was something to see as well. Schools of tiny fish swam around the lightbulb-shaped structures while sharks with colorful arrows swam around, a few of them circling each other almost like playful dolphins. The animals seemed drawn to this area, and it was almost as if they fed on light entirely.

Penny couldn't help but smile. She kept herself leaned against the window of the submarine, her eyes taking in everything she was seeing. She wished she had her notebook out. She really wanted to write all this stuff down, perhaps add in a few sketches as well. She wondered if she and her friends were among the first top dwellers to see this gorgeous scenery.

"I don't get it." She heard Snap say. She turned her head to look over at the confused zoner. "If these guys wanted to be secret, why would they place these light things all around?"

"Well, I think this is just natural formation and they took advantage of it." Penny theorized. "Plus, look at all these sharks. Most zoners wouldn't come near this place if they saw those guys, even if they did happen to be friendly."

"Hmm...good point." Snap said.

Penny knew she could be wrong, but she also couldn't dismiss the possibility. Many zoners on the surface were afraid of vicious sharks, just like humans in the Real World. The sharks here might be friendly for all she knew, but they could still be dangerous. They were still armed with razor sharp teeth and they could rip anyone to shreds if they got the chance. She theorized that the sharks were the main reason no one tried to come here.

But there was still something else.

"Where is this place?" Rudy's voice was a confused whisper. "I...I don't see anything."

Looking out, they realized that, indeed, Rudy was correct. They were over the spot the map indicated, but they were met with nothing. Below them, there was nothing but ocean floor, colored a bright white.

Penny looked left and right to try to see if they had passed it. But as she looked from the 3D map, to the outside of the window, there was no indication of any bulbous structure coming out of the ground. She attempted to look at the shadowy formations to see if they would help, perhaps their own shadow. But no, from inside the submarine, they couldn't look down and see the shadow. They'd have to get out. And with these unknown lifeforms around them, and without knowing how dangerous the light from these plants and rocks were, that would not be a smart move to make.

Penny stared back at the map, frowning softly. She could see they were still placed above where the king said Chalklantis would be. She realized there was really only one option that they could try.

"I can't believe this. The map was a lie!" Snap shouted, disgruntled. He folded his arms against his chest. "The king sent us on a wild goose chase!"

"Now Snap... We can't give up yet." Rudy tried to sound convincing, but Penny could tell he was having some doubts himself. "Maybe we just need to circle around for a bit and..."

"Circle around what?" Snap asked, cutting him off. "Look around us, Bucko! Nothin' but ocean! Do you see any structure like that..." He pointed at the formation that was supposed to be beneath them. "...around here?"

Rudy bit his lip. He looked left and right. "No... But..I know what it looks like, Snap..." Rudy tentatively moved the submarine forward. "But there's gotta be an explaination.."

Snap rolled his eyes. "Yeah. The explaination is that the king is a big dou..."

"Snap!" Rudy cried before Snap could finish his sentence.

Snap lowered his head. "Sorry. But you have to admit. This is pretty fishy." He motioned a hand towards Penny, giving her a sideways look. "Perhaps you were right, Penny. Maybe this was just a waste of time."

Penny decided to speak up right then. She didn't want this to go on any longer. If her theory was correct, then it was best they try it out quickly before they potentially upset the sea creatures around here.

"I have an idea."

Rudy and Snap stared at her expectantly.

Penny pointed her finger down. "Try descending."

Rudy blinked his eyes a few times. "What?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Buckette?" Snap asked. "How is that going to help?"

"Just...please try it." Penny urged Rudy. "I think it's time we thought outside the box a little."

Rudy and Snap looked at each other. For a few moments, they were silent, looking quite unsure of Penny's idea. Rudy soon shrugged his shoulders. Not dismissively, but as a way to show that he realized that he might as well give it a go. Slowly, they began to descend...

...only to almost instantly hit against something soft. There was a loud wobble sound, almost like rubber, and soon, they were stuck.

Snap's wide eyes darted left and right. "Hey..what's going on?"

"Just as I thought..." Penny whispered softly. "There's an invisible shield." She looked at the others, her eyes filled with realization. "That's why we didn't see it!"

"That's all fine and good. But..." Rudy gritted his teeth as he pushed against the accelerator. There were a few rumbles, but they still weren't moving. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"I..." Penny realized she hadn't thought quite that far. She placed a hand against her head. "Oh..."

"Try descending, she says." Snap grumbled. Penny shot him a glare.

Rudy tried to stay positive. "I'm sure we can..."

Suddenly, they felt a few quick rumbles rippling through the submarine. They were very short bursts, and, as Penny felt them, they seemed to be going in some kind of distinct pattern. She couldn't quite identify it yet.

"What the...?" Snap looked all around. "What's happening now?"

Rudy paused for a moment. "This feels familiar..."

Penny widened her eyes in realization. "It's morse code!" She looked back at her friends. "They must be trying to contact us!"

"What are they trying to say?" Asked Snap.

Penny was a little rusty on morse code, but she decided to give it a try anyway. She held herself still and shut her eyes as she felt each ripple. She searched her mind as she tried to remember what each individual quick ripple was trying to indicate. She tried to ignore the headache she was getting as she tried to concentrate on deciphering the message.

After a few moments, she felt she got the gist of the message. She had missed some of the words, but she did get enough to know about what was being asked of them. She waited for a few moments to fully process the message before relaying the general idea of it to her friends.

"They are asking for identifcation, and if we don't respond quickly, they will shoot." Penny said.

This caused Snap to flinch. "Oy caloy, they don't fool around, do they?"

Rudy said, "How are we going to reply to them?"

"Maybe you could do that thing from before? Try to escape? I think that causes some rumbles." Snap suggested. "Maybe they detect things in the shield?"

"Snap is right. You could cause some return rumbles in a specific pattern, and it would allow us to make a return message in morse code." Penny said. Upon seeing Rudy's expression, she added, "Please..just try. I already have a return message in mind. Just follow my instructions and we should be okay."

"That doesn't sound reassuring..." Snap said nervously. "But...well it's all we can do. We can't just leave."

"All right then, Penny. Give me the instructions."

"Are you ready?" Penny asked. She waited until Rudy nodded his head confidently before she continued. "All right then. Here we go..."

sss

"Wow...It's so pretty." Snap said.

"Yeah... I wonder how long it took them to build this place. And how." Penny added.

Rudy remained quiet as he focused on following the path that was given to them. But despite his quietness, he wasn't immune to the beauty that was all around them. He had to admit, his friends were right. This was quite a nice place here.

After they had succesfully delivered the message, the force field around them had been weakened, allowing them to come in. They were then contacted via the radio and told very specific instructions on where to go. Rudy was to follow them to the letter, otherwise he could get lost or end up in less than pleasant locations. The person on the radio didn't elaborate, but they didn't need to for Rudy and his friensd to understand.

Once they were past the force field, they could see the bulbous, rocky formation below them, with spiky towers shooting up, and some exposed, glassy areas with illumination coming off of them. It was as if someone took a large stone, placed thick, bright stickers on, and dropped it in the water, and it got impaled somehow.

They moved in closer towards one of the bulbous structures. As they got closer, they could see what appeared to be a black line spreading in the middle. Soon, the two sides began to move outward, allowing them just enough room to squeeze past. Soon they were inside, the door shutting behind them.

Now they were moving along the tunnels. They were windy and there were many places to go. It was no wonder the zoner on the radio wanted them to follow their specific instructions. It was like a maze in here. Rudy wondered if this was some kind of defense in case someone managed to get inside.

Some areas of the tunnels were clear, and it allowed them to see inside. Rudy and his friends couldn't help but be in awe as they looked at the landscape below them. They were suspended up high, near the 'roof' of this place, looking down below upon the land. It was kind of like being in a factory and walking on suspended cat walks high above and looking down. As they moved through the tunnel, their eyes looked left and right as they took in the sights all around them.

Down below, they could see what appeared to be part of a forest. It was sort of similar to the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle, but it was decorated with trees they hadn't seen before. Orange trees with gold rings on the trunks. Tall, blue grass that seemed to almost sway, despite there being no wind down here. Gigantic flowers, tall vines with spikes at the end of them, and cool, refreshing water reflecting rainbowy colors completed the exotic image.

What excited them more was that this was just a small taste of Chalklantis. They knew that, very soon, they were about to see more wonders of this place. They could only imagine what else this place had in store for them.

Soon, after another turn or two, they could see a brighter light up ahead. The water levels in this area started to shrink the further they went down. Soon, they popped out of the surface of the water. At first, their view was a little wobbly due to the water. After it cleared in a couple of seconds, they could see a sandy beach up ahead, a wooden dock set over it with a ladder that they could use.

Rudy moved the submarine closer, using great care and caution as he did so. He managed to position the submarine just in front of the ladder. It took him a few seconds to make the submarine as still as possible. But even his best efforts caused it to wobble a little in the water.

Rudy and his friends got out of the submarine through the top hatch. They walked carefully over, trying to keep themselves steady with the submarine wobbling all around underneath them. They grabbed onto the ladder one by one and climbed up.

Once they were on the deck, they were immediately greeted by what appeared to be a flax-colored bird with a bronze beak and metal wings. Rather than looking overly friendly like they were used to, he behaved in a more official way. Cold, but not necessarily standoffish.

"Hello. You must be Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez." The bird said to them.

"And Snap White!" Snap called out.

The bird zoner nodded his head slowly. "Yes. Quite." He placed a hand against himself. "My name is Kairos. I am to escort you to the king's throne room." He raised his head up straight, and motion for them to follow. "Come along now."

Rudy narrowed his eyes slightly. He was a little annoyed at how dismissive he sounded to Snap. He didn't say anything, however, as he might end up making things worse. He and his friends did the only thing they knew to do that wouldn't have caused any problems.

They obeyed Kairos and they followed.

Rudy quickly forgot his anger as they went further down the dry tunnel, and soon entered the interior dome that contained Chalklantis. He and his friends had to give pause, unable to believe the shere beauty that was all around them.

Chalklantis was an underground cave. All around them, they could see the typical cave-like structures, like stalagmites and stalacties. Here, they almost seemed decorative, and there was a shiny texture to them. They could see various plants, many foreign and never before seen. They could see different landscapes in the distance, though save for a few small things like green and some tall mountains, they couldn't get a full sense of what they looked like. But they could tell it was beautiful.

In the immediate area, as they walked along the golden, sparkly path, they could see some housing structures around them, along with what appeared to be a few stores. They were absolutely gorgeous, with intricate detail and looked as if they had been very hard to create, even if done by a creator.

In addition to the buildings, there was a tall fountain spouting water, the structure looking like a griffin jumping out of a pool of water trying to catch a fish. There appeared to be street lamps along the path, and when they took a closer look around them, they were colored differently. Rudy guessed that they signified location, which made sense. He and his friends were walking along yellow lights, and in the distance further ahead, this color gradually changed to purple.

He and his friends could see some zoners going about their business. The zoners hardly paid attention to them as they seemed too busy trying to work out deals and batering and chatting and having fun. All of the zoners were wearing some kind of robe, most of them white with very few variations. The zoners themselves were still varied, but much less so than on the surface. Humans, and almost everything non-human was a mythical creature or monster of some kind.

It was then that Rudy realized that the whole theme of this place appeared to be greek. The designs, the species the zoners were, the robes or whatever they were called, they all reminded him of what he and Penny learned about Greece. He realized that this made sense. Atlantis was a greek myth, wasn't it? So having Chalklantis be modeled after that greek style was a logical step.

He and his friends were still taken aback by the fact that they had even arrived here. And it was more beautiful than they could imagine. The architecture, the buildings, the plants, everything was exceeding what they had thought they would find. Indeed, months of planning and imagining wouldn't have prepared them for something like this.

Now they were here, the first surface dwellers ever to come here in such a long time. It was still so hard to believe.

Soon, they stopped and stared out ahead of them.

They had arrived at the palace. They craned their heads back to get a good look.

The palace was mostly white and made of marble. There were some splotches of other colors mixed in, but they were faint and not too noticeable unless they peered very closely to it. Pillars formed around, helping to hold up large portions of the palace. There were no doors on the outside; there was simply a few pathways to get inside, each guarded by a large, burly boar zoner.

Following Kairos's command, they began to walk up the staircase. The steps were a little tell, and made of shiny marble, a little darker and dimmer than the palace itself. It was so clear and reflective that they could see themselves as they walked up. It didn't take them too long to reach the top. Rudy, Penny, and Snap had to stop and try to catch their breath.

"You three are to remain here." Kairos said, the authoritive tone never wafering from his voice. "I will go alert the king to your presence. I will come back and fetch you when he gives the order. Understand?"

"Yes." Rudy said, nodding his head slowly. "We'll wai.."

"Good." Kairos immediately turned around and began to walk away. Not another word was spoken from him and soon he disappeared down into the palace.

"Yeesh, what a creepazoid." Snap muttered under his breath.

"Now, Snap. We're in the presence of loyalty. We can't expect them to be super friendly to us." Penny said

"Yeah, well..." Snap folded his arms against his chest. "He coulda been a little nicer about it."

Rudy remained silent as he watched the bird zoner leave them. He couldn't lie. He was a little peeved himself at how abruptly the bird zoner had left them. But at the same time, he didn't want to judge him too quickly. After all, they had just met, and he was a royal zoner after all. He tried not to focus too much on his anger of the zoner, and tried to shift it towards enjoying his time here.

He had to wonder what the king was like. He also wondered just what the king wanted him and his friends here for. He felt his heart clench if there was a possibility of an emergency. Well, if that was the case, he had his trusty magic chalk with him. Whatever problem this place might be facing, if that's the reason the king called them, he would be able to fix it.

A few moments later, he and his friends watched as Kairos returned.

"Come this way now." Kairos ordered them. With that, he began to escort them into the palace.


	4. Meeting The King

The view inside the castle was absolutely incredible. Whoever had built this, or designed it, sure had good taste. The trio couldn't stop looking left and right to take in the sights all around them.

The interior had a very tall roof, which made the place look much more expansive than it really was. There were no windows; just decorative empty holes high above, each forming a different, unique symbol. The floors were white and polished, and had the same colorful sparks to them as the stuff outside, which made the place look much newer than it really was.

The place had lots of straights and soft curves. The walls went straight up and had a curved edge near the top most of the time. There was the occasional sharp turn, but it coincided with everything else and didn't feel very out of place. They could see there were some upper levels of this place, and what appeared to be spiral marble staircase would take them up there.

There were no light bulbs to be seen. Instead, the rocks that made this building appeared to glow themselves. They gave off enough light for illumination. And at the same time, they didn't seem to be too overbearing. Their eyes weren't hurting as they looked around.

Several painted portraits of past kings were on the wall. All of them appeared to be some kind of two-legged deer. It was hard to tell if these were actual kings, or if they just came with the design.

There were several zoners that moved about, most of them appearing to be servants. None of them wore any clothes, and the only thing that revealed to them being servants were black bands around their wrists. This didn't seem like a greek thing and was probably something the zoners, or the creator themselves, came up with.

The trio did their best not to walk into any of the servants. A few of them stopped to look at them. Some had worried expressions. Others were merely curious. It wasn't easy dodging them because there were so many hallways connecting into this large room and the servants seem to be coming from everywhere.

Kairos, on the other hand, carried himself high with a strong sense of pride. He did not stop for any servant, nor did he even care to notice them, let alone speak a word. The servants near him lowered their heads and averted eye contact, as if they were worried that they might offend him otherwise. Kairos didn't bother to answer them back with any acknowledgement and just continued on his way to the throne room.

Rudy didn't really like this kind of behavior. Not being used to royalty, Rudy couldn't help but deem it rude to be so dismissive of the servants like that. It was bad enough that he didn't seem to be treating him and his friends well. But did Kairos really treat members of the very palace he lived in this way?

He sighed softly. Well he and his friends did know how different things were going to be. He just wasn't as prepared as he thought he was. His mind was still used to the friendly, outgoingness of the zoners back in ChalkZone City. This kind of behavior was still...rather foreign to him.

He did his best to keep quiet. He looked to his friends. He was relieved to see that they weren't talking either. They were trying to distract themselves with the beauty of this place. That was probably the only thing keeping at least Snap from saying something.

"We are almost there." Kairos said abruptly. "Be prepared."

Rudy and his friends nodded their heads in response. Upon hearing Kairos say this, they took a good look at where they were headed.

Up ahead, they could see they were headed towards the middle hallway. The shape was quite squarish, different from the others. This likely signified its importance. On the opposing walls at the entrance, they could see what appeared to be engraved, gold hippogriffs, their mouths wide open and snake-like tongues slithering out. Their eyes were red, made out of some kind of red jewel.

As they entered the hallway, they noticed several dark purple flags with various pale purple symbols. It was difficult to tell what they meant. The ceiling above them was purple as well, and the walls appeared to be tainted a pale purple, much lighter than the symbols themselves. The trio again wondered if this was Greece-inspired or something that was made up due to a lack of full understanding of this place.

Soon they reached a large opening in front. The presence of something sparkling on the edges told them that the doors were present; they had just been opened up wide. At the very edge, there was a bright purple carpet with red outlining. They soon stepped on it and they entered the throne room.

Rudy looked left and right as his eyes registered the area. It was more rounded, like everywhere else, except the ceiling was even straighter and sharper-looking than other places they had seen. Decorative pillars with swirling marks lined the edge of the room. There were various seats made out of white stone where his higher ups likely sat when dealing with kingly duties. Huge paintings hung on the walls everywhere, each depicting something increasingly odd and wondrous.

And in the middle, on a raised ledge with a few small steps, surrounded by silver and purple statues of deer, sat the king.

The throne chair was incredibly tall, almost ridiculously so. The throne was gold with some silver and purple for the cushions. It had no arms for it, which caused anyone sitting in it to have to rest their arms at the sides.

The king himself was dressed in a purple robe and a green plant-like crown was fitted over his head. An olive branch it almost looked like, except it bore some resemblance to the seaweed they had seen outside. Rudy could have sworn it had a slight glow to it as well.

The king's deer-like face regarded them with an emotion that Rudy could not identify. The king didn't seem hostile, but there was something about him that made him and his friends approach with caution. Even though the king was resting his head on one of his hands, his dark-colored mouth curved into a smile, that did little to reassure them.

Even Kairos himself was nervous. The previously standoffish and prideful zoner now adopted a more hesitant and apprehensive posture. His hands, if they could be called that, came together, the metal wing feathers scraping against each other slightly. His head was lowered and any calm, stoic expression was gone, replaced with a look of respect and uncertainty.

Seeing the bird zoner like this prompted Rudy, Penny, and Snap to also lower their heads to make themselves appear less threatening to the king. The last thing they wanted to do was get themselves in trouble with the highest authority of this land.

Soon they were positioned at the base of the steps leading up to the king. Upon Kairos's gesture, they all went down on one knee. They bowed their heads even lower, keeping their gaze towards the crown and avoiding eye contact.

Kairos lifted up his head and motioned towards them. "Here they are, sire."

"Excellent. Thank you, Kairos." King Zander waved his three-fingered hand towards them. "You are dismissed."

"Yes, sire." Kairos said, his voice laced with caution and respect. He backed away, keeping his head low. The bird zoner quickly left, leaving Rudy, Penny, and Snap alone with the king.

Rudy couldn't help but feel intimidated by this. Here they were, bowing before the king of Chalklantis. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying as well. These few seconds were quite precious. King Zander could say anything and it would fly with the people here. These few seconds were probably the scariest moments of his life, as well as his friends'.

There was some silence. No one said a word. Rudy wanted to so badly. But he refrained from doing so. He did not want to speak out of place, knowing the possible consequences of doing so. Even Snap, who had the hardest time being quiet out of all of them, managed to hold his tongue.

"Rudy Tabootie. Penny Sanchez. And...Snap White." The king spoke, his voice somehow emotionless and yet filled with emotion at the same time. "I am pleased to see that you finally answered my call for you."

"Finally? How long have you waited?" Snap blurted out, causing Rudy and Penny to shoot glares at him.

King Zander didn't seem to mind Snap's outburst. "That..is not important right now." The king brought his hands together. His black fingers tapped against one another. "We have much to talk about."

At this, Penny had worked up the courage to speak. "Why have you called us here?"

This caused Rudy to suck in a deep breath, his eyes widening in horror. He wasn't sure if they were allowed to speak freely like that to the king. Even though they were called here, he wasn't sure if they had any right to outright ask the king what he wanted.

Cautiously, Rudy looked upwards to see the king's face. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be any sign of anger in his eyes, nor did it look like he was about to punish Penny for speaking. Instead, Penny's question caused King Zander to close his eyes softly and lower his gaze. His facial furthers contorted into a look of concern. This caused Rudy to glance at his friends nervously. They all wondered just what was on the king's mind.

"I will admit I called you on important business." King Zander said after a few moments' silence. "You see, I urgently need your help on something."

At this, Rudy found himself straightening up without thinking. He didn't catch Penny and Snap's nervous expressions as he did this. "What do you need help with? I'll be glad to offer you assistance."

Rudy's eyes bulged as he realized what he did. He immediately lowered himself down and turned his face away. He didn't dare look up at the king's face. Had he insulted him somehow?

But King Zander didn't lift a finger towards him. "I am glad to hear that. I have heard of how helpful you are to others, Rudy Tabootie. I see your reputation precedes you if you are willing to come all this way to help someone you never met."

Rudy wasn't sure how to take that comment. He simply kept his head low and listened as the king spoke further.

"I know all three of you are wondering why I called you here. I do not think this is the right place to speak about it, however." The king said.

"Why not?" Penny asked in a soft, cautious voice.

"I would feel much better if we spoke at the dinner table." King Zander said. His smile spread slightly. "I think it would be easier to discuss such manners there. I can have my servants prepare a feast for us and..."

"Actually, that wouldn't be a good idea." Penny interjected. She winced at the king's expression and turned her head away. She continued, treading on very light ground. "It's...not that we aren't gracious towards your offer or anything. It's just..." Penny paused for a moment, as if trying to find the words to say.

"We can't eat chalk." Rudy finished for her. "We are humans. Chalk food will do nothing for us."

King Zander furrowed his eyes for a moment. "Ah...I see. I hadn't thought of that. We never had humans visit here before, so this is all quite...different."

sss

Snap remained silent as he listened to the conversation. There had been a few times when he wanted to speak up again. But, fearing that he would nearly ruin everything, he kept quiet.

He couldn't help but get a little flustered with this king. Despite his seemingly friendly demeanor, there was just something about him he didn't like. He wanted to chalk it up, no pun intended, to the fact that he and his friends weren't used to more 'realistic' royalty like this. King Mumbo Jumbo didn't exactly act like any king he had heard of before, and he was one of the very few kings they met. So it was likely the lack of experience that got him.

Yeah, that was probably it. Snap felt he would do better if he had gotten more practice ahead of time. He had been so excited, he didn't even think about practicing to interact with a king. Then again, neither did his friends, despite knowing what they were getting into. Perhaps the excitement of the whole thing had put a dent in their mind.

Snap hoped that there was good reason for them to get called down here. It wasn't that he didn't want to help, and it wasn't that he didn't want to come. But it was still tough to get here, even with the king's help, and it was quite out of the way. For the king to summon them, specifically them, and expect them to travel all this way to see him, there had to be a very good reason for it. Obviously, the king didn't do this just to say hello to them.

But what could it be? Judging from the king's expression from before, and the way he spoke, something was up. Snap couldn't tell what it was, though. Everyone they passed, even the servants, seemed fine. He saw no signs of trouble, no signs of anyone panicking, nothing. Everything seemed to be in order.

Then again, he and his friends had just arrived here. They knew little about Chalklantis and how things are run here. There might be something quite sinister going on right under their noses, and they won't even know because they were too unfamiliar with this place. Snap bit his lip. He hoped that, whatever was wrong, it wasn't too horrible. He would hate to see a potentially large threat destroy such a legendary, ancient, and beautiful place.

And of course, he didn't want to lose his friends. Every time they had to do something that was quite dangerous, even if he hid it well, he always feared what might happen to Rudy and Penny. They were like family to him. He didn't want them getting hurt. And they wouldn't want him hurt, either.

At the mention of food, Snap felt his eyes widen and twinkle. All of a sudden, he was aware of how hungry he was. He could feel his stomach start to growl. He flinched when the growl sounded louder than expected. No one said anything about it.

He looked upwards slightly, staring off towards King Zander and wondering when he had planned to take them to the dining hall, or wherever they eat here.

But then Penny mentioned that she and Rudy could not eat chalk food. He gave a slight frown at this. That's right. They could not. How could he have forgotten? Well, he could always...

"Then I will plan something else perhaps?" Said King Zander.

"Wait! That's not necessary!" Snap blurted out. He put his hands to his mouth when he realized what he did. He gritted his teeth nervously and lowered his head. "I-I mean.."

He could just slap himself in the face for that. Such a statement was not only out of line, but rude and disrespectful. He dared not to look at his friends' faces. He knew just how disappointed they would be in him.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." King Zander said. Snap and his friends looked up at the king with a surprised expression. He looked at Rudy and Penny. "You two can just sit down. Have you brought any food for yourselves?"

Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah."

"Perfect." King Zander said, smiling. "You and Penny Sanchez can eat your snacks at the table then." He turned to Snap. "As for you, you can help yourself to whatever is available at the table..."

"Thank you..." Snap started to say. But King Zander cut him off.

"When the food is ready."

Snap did his best not to groan in disappointment. He lowered his head and nodded it slowly to acknowledge what the king had just said.

"Well then..." The king clasped his hands together. He looked at each one of the three guests that stood before him. "If you are all in agreement, I will have Kairos escort you to one of the guest room."

"That's not..." Rudy started to say.

"Your luggage has already been brought there." King Zander said, the smile still on his face. "You three have been placed in a nice room. Twin beds, a balcony..."

"But we aren't staying for more than a day." Rudy managed to say.

King Zander nodded his head. "I understand. But I still insist. You three are guests of honor here." He interlocked his fingers together. "I would hate for you to visit my kingdom without having a place to stay, even if it is just for a few hours."

Snap had to admit, it did feel strange to have a room 'rented out' for them for a visit that was, at most, going to be a few hours. Rudy and Penny couldn't stay here. He could, but it would feel strange being in this new place without Rudy and Penny. But at the same time, he did feel a level of gratitude that the king thought this far ahead. Besides, staying in a nice room during their stay wouldn't be so bad, really. It certainly helped him feel more welcome here.

His thoughts were cut off when the king suddenly clapped his hands together. "Kairos!" Snap and his friends flinched, unable to believe just how loud the king could really be. Moments later, Kairos reappeared. "Please escort our guests to the room I had set aside for them." He moved his hand towards the trio in gesture to indicate them. "And tend to whatever needs they may want."

Kairos nodded his head, bowing deeply to the king. "Yes, sire." He looked over at Snap and his two human companions. "Follow me."

Without saying another word, Snap, along with Penny and Rudy, began to follow the bird zoner down the hallway.

sss

Well, credit had to be given where credit was due. The room that the trio had been assigned in was quite expansive and beautiful. It looked like it could easily fit triple their numbers in there. The king had also lied about the number of beds. There were actually two more. Perhaps the king forgot about it, or he wanted it to be a surprise. Either way, they all loved the room.

It was the usual square shape they were familiar with in other places. The walls were made of a marble, just like everywhere else. There was a nice, velvet carpet beneath their feet, so soft, they almost thought they were walking along the furry bellies of puppies.

The beds themselves were quite dazzling. The beds were in pairs. Two on one side, and two on another. They were pressed against each other, and bars stuck out of the ground, creating a complete ring around them. These had dark red curtains around them that could be easily pulled to encircle the beds and provide some privacy. The beds themselves were white with some red patterns that showcased different greek mythological creatures. The pillows were thick with small frilly edges that encircled them completely. And the beds were raised up high, with enough room for them to crawl underneath without problem.

Just like the king said, their suitcases were indeed in this room. All three had been placed on one of the beds, lined up together. None of the suitcases had been opened up, or looked like they had been messed with. Definitely a good sign.

There was a simple yet still pretty door that led to the outside. At the moment, it was open, which allowed the trio to see the small balcony that the king had promised them. The railing was made of smaller pillars supporting a thicker, curved block that went around the entirety of it. The surface was flat and, even from this distance, looked smooth.

The sounds of the outside came in. They could hear the chattering of many zoners. They could hear some screams of delight, shouts of anger, battering, attempts to strike deals regarding items, the sound of younger-minded zoners playing. All of that swelled up to create a practical choir.

Even from where they stood, Rudy, Penny, and Snap could see the flashing lights and the buildings of the city just outside the balcony. They could see the streamers. They could see the small trees that were planted around town. They could see part of the griffin fountain from before, with the faintest hint of some zoners dancing around it. It was quite a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, the noise from outside was becoming a bit too much. Penny couldn't help but wince as the choir soon became almost booming, and it was too difficult for her to think properly. She and her friends would not be able to talk too much with all that racket going on. She walked over and shut the door, blocking out most of the sound in the process.

Snap let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I'm not sure how much more of that I could have taken." Snap tilted his head to one side and hit against his head a few times. "That was starting to give me a headache."

"Well at least they all seemed very happy." Rudy pointed out.

"And that's just it." Penny folded her arms against her chest. Her eyes were furrowed softly. "What kind of urgency did the king call us here for? During our time here, I don't think I've seen one thing here that gives me any cause for concern."

Snap shrugged his shoulders. "Well, maybe he is just trying to prevent a disaster? I mean, if I were a king ruling somewhere, and I saw a problem arising, I wouldn't wait until everyone in my kingdom knew about it to fix it. I would do something as soon as possible."

"Snap has a point there, Penny." Rudy said as he gave a nod of his head. "I'm confused myself, and I'm sure Snap is too." Snap nodded at this. "But his idea might be right."

"You may be correct. It would make sense." Penny said as she thought about that. She hoped that would be the case. Still, a part of her could not completely shrug off something that she felt was a little...off. "I'm still unsure of this whole thing." She cautiously moved her eyes towards the door. "He still hadn't told us how he was able to contact us."

"That's because we never asked." Snap pointed out.

Penny's eyes widened slightly at that. Oh yeah, that's right. They didn't. She had meant to ask the king, but she had been too nervous to. She had a hard time knowing when she could speak around King Zander, and it seemed that so did her friends. They didn't know their boundaries around him yet.

However, that didn't help her shrug off her feelings of anxiety. Something just felt off, but she couldn't explain what it was. Just something about how the king contacted them somehow, despite how he shouldn't have known about them in the first place, just rubbed her the wrong way. Sure, there was the theories they had talked about previously, but none of them helped her feel any better.

She hoped she was wrong. She hoped that she was just getting worked up over nothing. She hoped that she was just overreacting, and that everything would turn out just fine.

She took in a deep breath and sighed. Slowly, she could feel herself starting to relax more. She didn't want to waste her time feeling too anxious about the visit. She wanted to at least enjoy her time here, and she couldn't do that if she was too worried.

They were in a lost city, for crying out loud. She should try to make the best of it. Besides, the king was still asking for their help, and she and her friends try to not turn down those in need.

Turning her head towards the suitcase and feeling her stomach growl slightly, she asked, "Do you guys want a snack while we wait?"

Rudy and Snap looked at each other. They then turned back to face Penny and nodded their heads.

"Sure." Rudy said. He made his way towards the suitcase. "Do you guys want to sit on the balcony and eat?"

"I don't know. It seems pretty noisy out there." Snap said, flinching softly as he was clearly remembering the loud noises outside. "Maybe it's better we eat in here?"

"I agree with Snap." Penny said. She paused for a moment. Then she said, "It's too noisy out there. We won't be able to talk to each other."

"Talk to each other about what exactly?" Rudy asked as he looked over at Penny. "Is this about the king again?"

"Well..kinda. Specifically, why he summoned us here." Penny said. She looked towards the ground. She paused for a few moments as she tried to think of exactly what she was going to say. She closed her eyes and sighed, then she looked over at her friends. "Just...how serious does this problem needs to be... if he was so willing to reach out from beyond his world just to get us to come?"

Rudy and Snap glanced at each other. They didn't say a word. They looked back at Penny, their expressions slightly confused at first. Penny watched as their expressions slightly contorted into a look of shock, intermixed with some level of fear.

With them now understanding where she was getting at, she decided to lay down the next issue on her mind.

"What if this threat makes it all the way to the surface?"

Penny had never seen her friends' eyes widen as much as they were now.

sss

Denny grumbled to himself as he went through the children's section to put everything away. Kids... he couldn't believe how sloppy they could be. He often wondered why anyone bothered to have them. Kids were so useless. They couldn't even pick up after themselves, the little pigs.

And to make it worse, his boss was a child lover who wouldn't listen to an ounce of what he had to say. Any complaint he had regarding the kids was met with sarcasm or a cold shoulder. Oh sure, his boss could turn the other cheek with a child. But when it came to him and his genuine suffering because of children? Not worth a bat of an eye.

It was so aggravating. The only thing that kept him coming back here was the fact that he didn't graduate high school and there were so few places that highered people like him. So perhaps he didn't have too much of a right to complain like this. It wouldn't stop him from doing it, though.

He continued to pick up the items from the floor and putting them back where they belonged. He continued to rearrange the books back in their proper order. He continued to pick up the garbage that laid strewn about in the children's room. The longer he did this, the more he could feel his blood heating up, and the more he began to question why even bother doing this? Or have a children's section at all?

Children didn't know how to respect adult authority. They thought they could do whatever they wanted just because they were cute. It was disgusting. And the fact that his boss was such a kiss ass to them made it worse. Oh, if only he were in charge... Then things would be different.

Getting a little tired, he decide it was time to take a little break. He went towards one of the small chairs and sat down in them. He didn't care if it was too small for him. He could sit anywhere he wanted to.

He needed to figure out a way to shift things into his favor. His boss was so dismissive, but he knew not many people would take too kindly if his boss's actions were affecting the productivity of this place, even if t was 'just a library'. At the very least, the parents would be quite upset, especially if their children were doing something dangerous and his boss just let them off scott free. If he could find a way to prove this, he...

His eyes widened. Of course... Why didn't he think of it before?

Those kids from before. The ones that snuck into his office. He had forgotten that there was a camera placed in the hallway. If he would be able to get a hold of that camera, and if he looked through it, he might be able to not only identify who broke in, but also find enough evidence to get his boss fired.

Then he would take over. He would change it for the better. He would ensure that no stupid little kid would ever get the better of him again. Oh yes, things were going to be different around here.

Unable to hold back, Denny couldn't help but give a soft laugh. At least, years of grueling labor coupled with being mistreated by the children were finally coming to an end. He hoped those brats will celebrate for as much as they could, because starting oh so very soon, all of that was coming to an end.

He would see to that.


	5. Explanation

"What do you mean, it's going to be difficult? You studied this, didn't you?" Rudy asked.

"Yeah. You could give us some pointers." Snap chimed in. "Come on, Buckette. You can do it!"

Penny wished she could say that they were right. She would have loved to tell them everything that she knew. However, it may not do them any good here. This place was...different. It was not entirely like anything they had seen before.

She and her friends had just finished discussing the situation with the king's calling. They had agreed to speak to the king himself more about it, instead of letting themselves get too worked up over it. After all, King Zander was going to tell them all about it when they would be called down to the dining hall. It may not be wise to get themselves stressed out before they knew what was happening.

Then Rudy and Snap got the idea to ask her for help in regards to how to act around the king. They all already had a good idea, but Penny herself was the one with the most knowledge when it came to Greece. Her friends were hoping that she would be able to relay some of that information to them so they could speak to King Zander without accidentally offending him.

But Penny wasn't entirely sure if that was a good idea. It wasn't that she didn't want to help. It wasn't that she thought their idea was stupid. There was...another reason why she didn't want to do it.

"Penny, why won't you help us?" Rudy asked. Penny looked at his face. She gritted her teeth when she saw how sad he looked. The sight of it made her feel more guilty about refusign. "Please. You always helped us before. What's so different about this?"

"I..." Penny closed her mouth. She tried to think of how she was going to explain this to her friends. How would she be able to get them to understand?

Snap frowned slightly. "This doesn't sound like the Penny I know." He tilted his head to one side. "Are you sure you're feelin' well?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just.." Penny realized she spoke a little too quickly. She hadn't yet fully collected her thoughts. She lowered her head and sighed. "I might give you guys the wrong advice."

"What do you mean?" Snap raised his hands in the air. "Why would you...?"

"Because, Snap... Rudy..." Penny looked at each of her friends. Then, after she finally managed to organize her thoughts better, she said, "This place does indeed seem to be mostly Greece-styled. But base on what I've seen, it's a hodge podge of some other things, too." Penny tilted her head back, looking up towards the roof of the room. "I think this place was designed by someone who did have a lot of knowledge of Greece, but not quite, or misunderstood a few things, and incorporated stuff from other countries."

Rudy and Snap looked at each other.

Penny continued, "I don't know what social rules King Zander has in place. I could tell you what the greeks did, but that may result in offending King Zander anyway, because maybe he has the opposite in mind."

Rudy and Snap exchanged quick looks at eah other. Penny stared at them and waited. From the looks of their expressions, it did seem like they had finally understood where she was coming from.

This was indeed going to be tricky. When they first came here, she did think it was pure Greece, but a few minor details she had seen made her think otherwise. The fact that it was a hybrid concerned her, and made her more worried about potentially angering King Zander. She wasn't sure what the policy here was for when someone one the lower end of the social ladder disrespected authority. Like her friends, she didn't want to find out.

"Well that's just great! Now how are we going to talk to the king if we can't..." Snap exclaimed his eyes slightly widened.

"We just do what we did before." Penny said softly. "We didn't seem to offend King Zander before. Let's just keep that up."

Rudy paused for a moment. Then he said, "That seems like our only option. I don't know how long it'll be before they come and..."

The trio froze when they heard a knock on the door. They whipped their heads around to see not Kairos, but another zoner. This one was one of the servants, evident by the black-colored band that she wore.

"Come along now. The king has called for you." She said. Her tone of voice was friendlier than Kairos's, but heavy on the caution. It was as if she was more nervous around them then she was with her higher ups. Was this because they were strangers?

The group decided not to question it. They nodded their heads and got up to their feet. They said not a word to the zoner. They simply followed her as she started to lead them down the hallway.

Penny took note of her gait. Light and fleety, as if she was getting ready to run at any second. This complimented her somewhat wary gaze of them, and what was around her. This all but confirmed Penny's suspicion that this zoner didn't entirely trust her or her friends. She felt a little hurt, but she shrugged it off. She and her friends were strangers here. They were bound to be met with some level of distrust.

This zoner had a humanoid dog-like appearance. She carried herself on two legs very easily. She stood on her toes like a real dog, but her arms were clearly human-like in shape, save for the coarse fur and the small claws at the tips of her fingers, present also on her toes. Her ears were floppy and amost triangular in appearance. Her eyes, a bright blue, shifted left and right as she scanned the area, as if on the constant look out for danger.

Her tall slightly thin body was covered in dark brown coarse fur that looked like it would cut their hands if they rubbed it the wrong way. There was no alteration in the color of her body except for her nose, which was a light pink in color with a blotch of black. Her tail was medium-length and pointed. Her overall apperance reminded Penny of her friends of some kind of hunting hound.

The dog zoner led them down the hallway. They went straight down for a while before they finally turned to the right where they could see a double door set down at the end, one of the doors being wide open. The dog zoner didn't hesitate to lead them down here.

As they wandered down, Penny couldn't help but admire the beautiful sculptures and paintings that were in this hallway. One was of Medusa fighting against something she couldn't recognize. Another was of a manticore. There was a griffin, a unicorn, and some kind of serpentine dragon as well. Oddly, none of them looked malicious. Not even Medusa. It was more...welcoming. Perhaps the fact that all their eyes were a beautiful sapphire had something to do with it.

She then looked up and noticed there was an engraving on the large, purple-stained doors. A sign of silver, possibly created by hand, showcasing the image of what appeared to be a knife. Yeah, this was the dining hall all right.

Soon they entered it. Penny and her friends stopped and looked around in awe.

The table was absolutely massive. It stretched far down, easily being twenty feet long at the very least. The table was made out of smooth wood, the swirls of browns making them think of the marble much of this place was made out of.

The table itself was set in the middle of a large, rectangular room. There were at least three chandeliers hanging overhead, candes lit that provided illumination. A few paintings of kings were sat at different places, being taller and in more detail than most of the other paintings they had seen. The table was placed over a large, royal purple carpet with black and red edges, neither color being too distracting and always drawing them to the purple color.

On top of the table itself were rows upon rows of silver and gold plates covered in food. Just about any kind of food they could imagine was on here. Corn, potatoes, bread, grapes, oranges, carrots, ham, turkey, beef. The sight of it was absolutely divine, and Penny could see it was causing Snap's mouth to water. She and Rudy could only rub their stomachs in disappointment, knowing full well that they could not eat any of this.

"Here they are, as you requested, sire." The dog zoner said meekly as she lowered her head even more so than Kairos did.

The trio looked over and they noticed the king was sitting at a tall, extremely elaborate chair. Even the pretty, decorated chairs that accompanied the table were no match for this one particular chair.

"Thank you, Danae. That will be all." King Zander said. Unlike with Kairos, he didn't bother to look at her. He simply flipped his wrist forward in a dismissive way. "Go back to your duties."

"Yes, sire." Danae didn't waste time. She immediately turned and left the room quickly, leaving the trio in the room alone with the king.

There was a moment of silence as the king chewed his piece of carrot. The sound of crunching filled the air. A few seconds later, the king swallowed loudly and wiped his mouth. He then motioned with his black hand towards the table.

"Have a seat."

The trio did as they were told. They wall went towards a group of seats set a distance away from the king. They pulled out the chairs and said down in them.

King Zander gave a smile. "Go on. Eat."

sss

Of course, Rudy and Penny hadn't been able to eat any of the food. They tried, of course. But they could only spit it out as the taste of chalk entered their mouths.

Well that's a darn shame. They were going to miss out. Oh well, that meant more for him.

Snap was not able to hold himself back for long. Despite having eaten a few snacks earlier, the smell of food all around him enticed him. His taste buds tingled and he could feel his salivation increasing. As soon as the king had given the word, he had immediately dove in.

He wasn't even sure how much he had eaten. He couldn't even remember vividly each individual item. There was a mixture of the taste of bread, vegetables, fruit, and meat hanging on his tongue. They mixed together, somehow creating a concoction that was irresistable, rather than putrid like many would have thought.

Before he knew it he was on his third helping, and he didn't feel all that full yet. Slightly, but he was still driven to eat. He wasn't worried about missing any part of the conversation; the king hadn't really spoken since he began to eat. Even his friends were silent. They were staring at him in silence. Snap didn't pay them much mind.

Only after he was done with his third plate did he finally stop and lean back against the chair. He rubbed his stomach, feeling it gurgle slightly in satisfaction. He licked his lips, still tasting that yummy meat from before. He had to hand it to these zoners. They sure knew how to cook.

It was then that he looked over at his friends and noticed their expressions. Snap felt a pang in his chest. They did look pretty hungry, and he could see the disappointment in their eyes that they could not eat any of this delicious food. He felt guilty for eating so much in front of them.

But before he could say anything to them, the king spoke up, drawing their attention.

"I think now is the perfect time to talk."

Snap and his friends looked over at the king as he started to speak. King Zander looked distraught, his head and eyes slightly downcast. Something was clearly troubling him. And in a few moments, they were finally going to find out why they had been called here.

King Zander spoke again, not bothering to lift up his head. "There have been...issues lately around my kindgom." He lifted his head now and took in a deep breath as he clasped his fingers together, resting his hands on the table. He still did not look at them. "I'm afraid that my people have been...rather plagued lately. Frightened, and for good reason."

There was an uneasy silence in the room. Snap allowed his information to sink in. The king hadn't exactly said what was specifically wrong, but the few words he already spoke, and the air that surrounded his voice were enough to make the zoner shiver once. He didn't bother to look at his human companions. He knew they were thinking the same thing.

There were a number of things he could think of, that his friends could think of, that would cause this much alarm. And none of them were good. Disease, a powerful enemy attacking, a natural disaster that struck, a potential famine... The list went on.

Well maybe not a famine, given all the food the king had available here. But that didn't check off anything else that he had thought of.

Snap looked over at the king nervously. He could see the look of despair in his eyes. This threat, whatever it was, it had to be huge to have even the king and the other royals nervous. Was the threat coming to them, too? Were the king and his subjects being haunted by whatever threat had gripped them?

"I was hoping that you..." At this, the king slowly turned his head to face Rudy. "..could draw something for my people. Something that would help keep my citizens calm."

"Keep them calm? What good is that going to do with..." Rudy's voice trailed off. None of them still knew just what was going on around here. The king had yet to elaborate on that.

King Zander was quick to reply. "It is difficult to solve problems if everyone goes into a panic." He tapped a finger against his head. "A panicked mind does not do well for logical thought."

Snap couldn't argue with that. Even though he was annoyed that the king's first priority being to calm his citizens rather than trying to deal with the problem itself, he knew the king was right. Panicked people, zoner or human, could be quite dangerous. If the zoners here went into a panic, he would imagine just that kind of damages would be dealt. How well would the king be able to stop them if the zoners themselves were too terrified to really respond to anything he said?

Still, Snap hoped that the king had a plan on what to do about this threat, whatever it may be. Calming his people down wasn't going to solve that problem. It won't last long. If he waited too long, his people would find out, and they may panic even more.

Snap looked over at his friends. He could see the looks in their eyes. He could tell that they were just as puzzled and upset by this line of thought as he was. Rudy especially.

This wasn't a big surprise to Snap. After all, Rudy was usually the first one to jump into action. If there was a problem, he'd try to fix it. It wasn't that he wouldn't want to help these individuals. But he was smart; if there was a source of all the trouble, he'd go straight to them. If he had used the king's line of thinking, the citizens of Happy Face Valley would have been destroyed.

Well it wasn't going to do him any good if he just sat around here and grumbled to himself about the king. He still understood his decision. Right now, he needed to focus on what he and his friends could do for this place.

And hope that, somehow, they would eventually stop whatever was plaguing the lost city.

sss

"I know it might seem strange to you three." King Zander said, watching the children's faces as they were still full of doubt. "But I assure you. I know exactly what I'm doing. You can trust me. I am not forsaking my city or my people by doing this."

"I know. I just..."

Rudy stopped himself. He wasn't really sure what to say. His fear from before, regarding how to speak to the king, was practically a distant, forgotten memory by this point. The only thing on his mind right now was what the king said. He was still trying to make sense of it.

He could understand on some level why he was doing it this way. It was true that panicked zoners may cause a lot more trouble, which would only give the king more to worry about.

But he wasn't really sure if he completely agreed with this kind of plan. Wouldn't it be better just to go after this source of trouble and deal with it? From what he and his friends had seen, the citizens weren't in any sort of panic. Unless the king was trying to tell them that everyone was in denial and just pretending to be fine, evidence pointed to the people not really knowing or the disaster not being that large yet.

If the king could just strike now, when the threat small or unknown, or even both, then he would be able to prevent any sort of panic and he'd save his citizens from this danger.

But...just what kind of danger were they dealing with anyway?

"Can you tell us what is going on?" Rudy finally said after a few moments of silence.

At this, King Zander seemed to hesitate. Rudy and his friends exchanged glances with each other. They wondered just what could be doing on in King Zander's mind. The fact that he hesitated wasn't a good sign. Rudy fought against the chilliness as he thought of just what could be happening to Chalklantis.

King Zander's expression was furrowed, eyes narrowed, teeth gritted. He almost looked angry, but Rudy knew that look. It was one more of sorrow and frustration than pure anger. Rudy thought he could see a few tears froming in the king's eye. They would not shed, but not out of lack of caring, but because the king likely did not want to lose face in front of anyone.

"Some of my people have gone missing." The king finally said. He sucked in a deep breath as he recomposed himself. "There have been reports of some of my citizens not being found. Even a few of my servants have gone missing."

Rudy furrowed his eyes at this. Something about it didn't seem right. The king had mentioned something about potential panic. If zoners were going missing, then...wouldn't they have already known?

Unless...

Snap seemed to catch this as well. "And somehow...this isn't common knowledge because...?"

"Well, Chalklantis is a huge place." Penny said. Her words felt forced. It was clear that she was struggling to find some kind of explanation. It was hard to tell if she really took her own idea seriously or not. "Maybe they just think they're lost or something?"

Rudy looked over at her. "Are you sure, Penny? Maybe they..."

"Penny Sanchez is one hundred percent correct." King Zander said. "Most citizens just think they're on vacation or something. Only I and some of my faithful higher ups know about the disappearances. We keep track." He lowered his head slightly. "Of course, once enough time passes, then the people will start to find out."

"I see..." Rudy had to admit, that did make some sense. Maybe this was why he didn't say anything? Was the king himself doubting if these were real disappearances, or if the zoners were having too much fun? It was quite possible, and it would explain why the king didn't want to rush in and spread the word too quickly. It may not dwell kindly upon him to create such a false alarm.

The situation still must have worried the king enough to summon him and his friends to help. Did the king think that some kind of horrible disease took those zoners? Or an enemy? He wished the king would elaborate. But perhaps it was best to reserve judgment until enough evidence was found to prove which case it was.

That reminded him. He still didn't know how King Zander knew of him and his friends, despite being an underwater lost city. They had ideas before, but Rudy was still left pondering the possibilities. He was tempted to ask the king right now. He hesitated, holding his tongue. He had a feeling that such a question was inappropriate right now. The king certainly didn't look like he was in the mood to answer such a question.

Well, he could always find out later. Right now, he'd rather focus on helping these zoners in any way that he could.

"What do you want me and my friends to do, anyway?" Rudy asked. "What was your idea?"

The king leaned forward slightly. He stared at Rudy and his friends. There was a stern yet almost yearnful look in them, as if the king was desperate for them to agree. This wasn't a look they expected a king to give, but that's what made this whole situation ever the more eerie. Just what could be happening that would drive even a king to behave a bit out of order?

"I would like for you to draw this." The king held out a large piece of folded paper. "This should show you everything."

Rudy opened up the paper, leaning back so that his friends could take a look.

On the paper, they could see what appeared to be construction plans. White lines were drawn on the blue paper, and they curved and turned on the graph lines, showing the height and width of everything. There was a legend on the bottom that told them how big each piece was supposed to be. This thing was absolutely massive. Just from looking at it, they could tell it was going to be at least a hundred feet, but it was most likely going to be even bigger than that.

From the looks of it, it looked like a large stadium of some kind. It was round and it had plenty of bleachers for peope to sit down in. There was an area in the middle, a fraction of the full size, where Rudy and his friends believed sports would be played.

Sports like what? Baseball? The american pass time there? How strange... Maybe something else? A different sport? Perhaps.

There also appeared to be a large building that connected in the center of the bleachers. It had some large doors that led into the circle. This led Rudy to believe that this is probably where the entertainers or sports players would go to get ready. There weren't further details on that particular building, so he guessed that he and his friends were supposed to just create the outline of the building and King Zander would have his men take care of the rest. Or specifically, Penny, since Snap could not use magic chalk.

He studied the map for several moments, moving his eyes up and down to take in all the details. He bit his lip softly. There was one issue he realized that this was going to bring up. "This...is going to take a lot of drawing."

Snap nodded his head in agreement. "This will take some serious chalkin'. I don't think even Rudy could manage this in a day." He looked over at Penny. "Even with your help, Buckette."

"It might be possible if we split the work up and then connect to each other at certain points." Penny pressed a finger against the blue paper. "If we were to do a cross section around here..." She made a few gestures with her finger, moving it around and out a few times. "We might be able to pull it off. But it will be tough... But I'm sure we can do it together."

Rudy looked back down at the paper. He thought about what Penny had said. He let it sink in slowly. Penny's idea just might work. It would still be tricky, like she said. But maybe if they did divide the work up into equal parts, and worked around in the opposite direction, maybe they could work faster.

He hoped that would be the case. They couldn't stay there that long. The field trip wasn't forever. If he and Penny were gone too long, then someone was going to find out something fishy was going on. They would investigate and find that he and Penny were gone. Then his parents would panic and call the police and... Yeah, he would rather avoid that.

But, despite the odds, he was still confident that he and Penny would be able to finish quickly. All was going to go just fine, and in a few hours, he and his friends would be on their way back home. Everything was going to be fine.

"So...what do you say?" King Zander asked. He clasped his hands together, eyeing the three carefully. "Will you selflessly help out my people in these rather dark times?"

Rudy paused to think for a moment. He wanted so much to just say yes. But he had to consider what he was getting himself into. They don't know what kind of danger was here. They don't know what was happening to the zoners. They don't know just what to expect.

But...he didn't feel comfortable with delaying the answer, and he'd feel awful if he went against his nature and said no. He could see his friends looking at him expectantly. They looked as unsure as he was. But he could also see that, deep in their eyes, they wanted to help, too. How would they feel if he ended up turning down the king's offer?

Rudy narrowed his eyes softly. He had made up his made. He turned his attention back to King Zander. "Okay. We accept."

At this, King Zander's eyes twinkled a little and his smile grew broader. "I am so glad you feel that way." The king leaned back in his chair, tapping his finger tips together. "I want you to get started as soon as you are able to. I will have Kairos escort you to the area where I would like this to be built."

"I do have a question, if you don't mind me asking." Rudy said.

"What do you want to ask, Rudy Tabootie?" King Zander asked as he stared down at Rudy. "What is on your mind?"

"Well, it's just that..." Rudy's voice trailed off as he realized he wasn't sure how to ask without sounding a little rude. He was thankful that Penny stepped up to the plate and finished for him.

"What about this threat?" Penny asked. "What are you going to do about that?"

"Ah yes..." The king narrowed his eyes slightly. "That will still be a problem." He leaned forward, resting his mouth on top of his hands. He remained like this as he thought for a few moments. Then he raised his head back up. "After you are done building that piece of construction, Kairos will lead you back to me. We will discuss this matter further."

The king moved his hand out towards them in gesture. He mostly focused on Rudy, likely due to him being the protector of ChalkZone.

"I'm sure that with your help, this threat will be vanquished." King Zander's voice was filled with hope.

"Yeah. I'm sure we can." Rudy nodded his head affirmatively, smiling the best he could.

But despite his reassurances, deep inside, he was in a bit of turmoil. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen to this place if he failed. He recalled how he nearly failed ChalkZone when the balloonemia disease returned. He remembered how he nearly had himself permanently locked inside a temple, and how he thought that was the last time he'd ever see Penny.

He shrugged it off. He still managed to solve that issue, even if it had been a close call. He could help stop this problem as well. He just had to keep a positive mind and keep that level of determination that he always had. It was going to be hard, but he and his friends, they would stop whatever threat was plaguing this place, and they would save Chalklantis. After all, they were the protectors of ChalkZone, right?


	6. Helping Hands

It took a while before Kairos was able to lead them to the spot what King Zander wanted the stadium to be placed. Rudy thought it was only going to take about ten minutes walking at least, judging from what he and his friends were initially told. Instead, it took them about half an hour to forty-five minutes to get there on foot. Why they didn't just use a form of transportation, he wasn't sure.

Much of his frustration melted away when he arrived on the scene and was able to see for himself what this area looked like. It was quite beautiful. It was little wonder why the king chose this spot in particular to put the stadium.

They were standing on an open filed with a slight dip in the ground. It was almost like a crater of some kind, like an asteroid struck this place long ago. It was in this particular spot that the king wanted the stadium to be in. Likely because he felt it was a perfect fit or something.

It was located near the edge of one of the walls of the underground cave. The wall rose up partially, then did a sharp inward curve before it shot up and over to form the ceiling overhead. A few sturdy-looking stalactites hung over head, arranged almost in a near perfect circle. Another part of the wall jetted out almost like some kind of claw, stretching outward before sharply turning back into the wall.

It took Rudy a while to recognize that there was some kind of opening in the center of this. As they drew closer, he could see what looked to be rising platforms. He didn't see any zoner using them right now, but he guessed they were still in use. Penny thought that they could be some kind of advanced elevator unit to help them to get up to the tunnels that snaked across the ceiling almost everywhere they had been so far. Snap wasn't sure why they needed the tunnels up there, but eventually came to agree that it was likely easier traversing large areas around here when they don't have to worry about hills and rocks and animals and such.

Surrounding the dip were some tall and medium length grasses. The grass itself was blue in color with a slight tinge of green. It was a little stiffer than normal grass they were used to. Rudy winced as he felt one of them slightly scrape his right leg.

Rudy nearly lost his footing when they soon reached the ridge of the dip. His foot got caught on the ridge and he tumbled forward. He gagged when he felt someone yank him back. He turned and was about to thank Penny, but he realized that it was Kairos. The zoner gave him a stern expression. Before Rudy could say anything, the zoner moved forward swiftly and continued to lead them down. Rudy glared softly at him, but said not a word as he and his friends walked down the slope.

Soon they were at the bottom of the crater-like thing. They looked left and right. It was a bit deeper than they had imagined. The ridges themselves were slightly rounder and softer than what they'd expect with a true meteor impact. Exactly how this thing was formed, they weren't sure. Penny tried to get some answers out of Kairos, but he was not interested in telling them.

The bird zoner only began to speak when they had reached the center of the dip. He stopped abruptly, causing the trio to stumble a little as they tried to stop. He then looked over his shoulder and stared at them.

"This is where you will be building what the king desires." Kairos said sternly. "I trust that you will be fine on your own?"

"Yes." Rudy said as he reached into his pocket for magic chalk. "We..."

"Good." Kairos cut him off abruptly. "I need to return to the king now to tend to some other duties. Once you are finished, just wait here for me. I will return soon."

Rudy and his friends watched as Kairos spread out his wings. He then rushed forward, jumped into the air, and took flight. They could see the shimmering of light bouncing off his metal wing feathers, and with each flap, they could hear the shing and scrape of metal.

Once he was going, Rudy and his friends looked at one another. Now came the task of figuring out how they were going to start this project. They couldn't help but look at the plans paper then to the crater they stood in, then to the piece of magic chalk that Rudy held. They took note of the size indicated on the plans paper and the shere size of this indention. They all gulped once nervously, all thinking the same thing.

This was going to take a while.

Remembering what they had talked about before, Rudy leaned forward slightly and stared at the paper's details intently. He scanned over them, making sure he didn't miss anything. Then he pressed a finger down against one part of the paper and said, "This whole thing looks like it's already divided up."

"I guess we didn't notice that before. That does make it a lot easier to divide up the work." Penny said. She leaned in a little closer and stared at the lines that cut through the circular shape of the architecture. "Do you mind if I have the paper for a moment?"

Rudy handed it to her. "Sure, but why?"

"It'll just take me a moment." Penny said as she quickly drew a small pen.

"Whatever she has in mind, I suspect it'll be more complicated than usual." Snap said with a smirk.

Penny gave him a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Snap raised his arms into the air. "I'm just saying, Buckette. Sometimes you go into a little...too much detail." He made a swirling motion with his hand. "Perhaps you should try...dumbing it down a little for us?"

Penny chuckled, "If I can figure out how to make even the Doofi understand, would that be good enough for you?"

"Hey... that's not what I..." Snap started to say before Rudy placed a hand on his shoulder. Snap looked up at Rudy. The small boy shook his head slowly from side to side in disapproval. Snap pointed his rounded hand in Penny's direction. "She started it!"

"Oh relax, Snap. I was just funning with you a little." Penny said, smiling at the flustered zoner. "I apologize if I upset you. Don't worry, these plans will be easy to explain."

Snap still looked a little peeved, but Penny's apology had seemed to calm him down. He took a step away from Rudy, staring at Penny as she started to sketch up something. "So..what did you have in mind?"

"You'll see. Just give me a few moments." Said Penny.

Rudy and Snap watched as their female friend began to sketch something on the plans paper. They waited patiently as she continued to go to work. She moved at a steady pace, biting her tongue in clear determination as she tried to do this correctly.

It was quite a sight for Rudy to see. He always enjoyed it when Penny made out plans. He liked it even more when he was sitting or standing there with her, watching her. It was amazing the king of thought processes that must be going through her mind, and he felt almost privileged to see her put that intelligence to work. Snap, on the other hand, was looking a tad bored and simply wanted Penny to finish up already. Science related stuff gave him a headache.

When Penny was finished, she held up the piece of paper and showed it to her friends. The two boys moved in a little closer, their eyes focused on the paper.

Penny had drawn a few further cross sections. It was shaded in a darker granite-color so it could easily be seen even on the blue paper. Originally, the stadium was divided into twelve sections. Penny's sketching overwrote that with darker lines and fewer parts. Eight of them, with numbers on the outside to label them. They were grouped in pairs, some shaded and every other one being left alone.

"I'll take care of the darker sections." She glanced over at Rudy. "And you can take care of the white sections."

Rudy looked at her for a few moments before glancing back down at the paper. He moved his eyes up and down as he took in what she had drawn. She had somehow managed to take the twelve section stadium and divided it into four equal parts, each the same size and the same space apart. It was still a lot of work, but he was impressed with how much Penny had reduced the work load.

Snap said, "That's impressive, Buckette." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So..how is it gunna work?"

"Simple. First, we mark this land based on what we see on this paper. We will measure out the exact distance and size so we know what we are putting them in their right place. We will then label each section accordingly. Then, using our magic chalk, Rudy and I will begin to draw based on what we see here. We will alternate around, and as we come across each other, we will connect our pieces together."

"That sounds good, but.." Snap paused for a moment. He then said, "What if your art styles are too different? What if they get upset with how jarring it would look."

"I think it'll be fine. Besides, if it's too bad, Rudy could make a few corrections." Penny smiled over at Rudy. "Isn't that right, Rudy?"

Rudy paused, then he nodded his head. "Yeah."

Rudy couldn't help but wonder if Penny was trying to remind him of the time when she had asked for his help with some drawings and he hadn't helped her. Penny had proven herself to be a pretty good creator at that point, and Courtney didn't look too bad. Remembering that, he agreed with Penny that there likely wouldn't be as big of a jarring effect as Snap was worried about. And he could always tweak it if it was too off.

Rudy got his magic chalk ready. Penny was finished explaining at this point what they were going to do. He looked down at the plans paper to see where the areas he was assigned would be located. He took mental note of the numbers listed. Then he was about to draw himself some rocket shoes to make the process a lot easier.

Then he stopped when he realized there was something else missing.

"What about that building?" Rudy asked. He looked back down at the stadium and he remembered how the building had connected into the stadium itself. "How are we going to do that?"

"We will make it just outside of the stadium. I don't think it'll do all that well if it connected to the stadium itself." Penny pointed a finger against an area just outside of the circular building. "If we put it back here, we can connect a path over, and it can connect to the center circle. This would give more room to zoners coming in to be entertained, and it would keep the noise from bothering whoever is inside here." She tapped the paper a few times, then turned to Rudy. "Does that make sense?"

Rudy rubbed his chin a few times as he looked down at the blue tinted paper, thinking about what Penny had just told him. It did make sense doing it that way. He wasn't sure if the king would like it, however. Didn't the king say he wanted it exactly as he had shown in the paper?

Well, then again, King Zander did seem like he could be reasonable and flexible. They were still creating the stadium for him, after all. Even if it wasn't exactly how he wanted, he would still be grateful for the help, right?

"Yeah, it does." Rudy finally said after a few more seconds. He lifted up his magic chalk once more, giving a determined smile. "Okay, let's get started!"

"Okay, you two go on and do that. I'm going to check out some of these stores nearby." Snap spoke up.

Rudy and Penny whipped their heads towards their small blue friend. Snap was making his way up the hill again. He was heading towards what looked like a few medium-sized buildings, likely shops. They narrowed their eyes in disappointment.

"Snap! Why aren't you helping?" Rudy couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Usually, Snap was right by him, willing to help. So why was he wandering off this time?

Snap looked over at him and Penny. One eye was cocked higher than the other. He looked confused by their reactions. "Uh...because I can't use magic chalk? And there's nothing I can do right now that would be of any help?"

At this, Rudy felt like an idiot. Snap was correct. There was no way he could be of much help to them right now. He couldn't use magic chalk and he wasn't exactly a builder or an expert in architect. Rudy couldn't believe that he had forgotten about that. "Oh yeah... Sorry about that."

"It's okay, Bucko." Snap said with a smile. "You and Penny can work on the building together. I'll be right in the shops to pass the time. When you are done, let me know and I'll do whatever I can to help further. If there's any else that needs to be done, that is."

"Well, I'm not sure if there will be anything left for you to do." Penny raised up her hand in gesture. "But I'm sure we can find you something to do." She turned her head to Rudy after Snap nodded his head and began to walk up the slope. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am." Rudy looked down at his piece of magic chalk. "Time to make these zoners happy." He smiled at Penny. Then he lowered himself to the ground to draw a pair of rocket shoes. He activated them and up into the air he began to fly. He nodded to Penny and the two of them went to work.

sss

Snap felt a pang of guilt clutch his chest as he watched Rudy and Penny ascend into the air. They were starting to draw the stadium together. They went to their designated locations, and, almost in synch, they began to draw the different parts of the stadium.

He wished he could help them. He hated that he was not able to do anything. But what could be done about that? Making buildings was not what he was created for. He could not wield the magic chalk like his friends. In this situation, he was pretty much useless.

Besides, Rudy and Penny had it all figured out anyway. They didn't really need his help. He shouldn't try to provide aid now, when they already had this planned. He remembered when he nearly destroyed ChalkZone because he decided to play with the vacuum cleaner Rudy told him to watch. If he had just done what Rudy said and not mess with it, nothing bad would have happened.

He felt a chill in his spine briefly. He didn't want a repeat of that incident, even if the likelihood of it was small. No, it was best he stayed out of his friends' way for the time being.

He wouldn't go far, though. He had seen some nice buildings near this place. Some kind of shop, he believed. He could do some window shopping while he waited. Maybe even speak to some of the zoners in there.

He then paused for a moment as he reached the ledge as a thought came to his mind.

He had to wonder...would any of these zoners know what was exactly going on here?

There was only one way to find out.

The blue zoner made his way towards the first building in sight. There were only a handful here. One of them looked something like a hut, only build with stone and pillar-like structures. It was pretty small. It looked like it had only one medium-sized room, still a bit on the small side. There was a platform that it sat upon and a few steps, three at most, that led up to it.

He could see that the door, a bright wooden one, was partially open. There was a small, gold-colored doorstopper hooked at the end that prevented it from closing. There was a single large window, and between that and the open door, he could see there wasn't really anyone inside, looking around. He would have thought it was abandoned if it weren't for the female centaur that sat in a specially designed seat.

The female centaur was pretty bulky. Not fat, but muscular. Her large arms looked like they could crush anything she struck. Her muscular body betrayed her face, which still looked delicate, like the stereotypical woman. Her long, blonde hair, coupled with her red lipstick and deep brown eyes, made her look almost too beautiful for the powerful, dark grey horse body that she was attached to.

Snap approached her slowly, unsure of what to expect. She looked over at him, but said not a word. She only flicked her black horse tail from side to side. Snap couldn't tell if she was irritated, or if she was just waiting for something.

"H-Hello.." Snap managed to say.

"What do you want?" The centaur asked sharply. Snap remained silent. This caused her to raise up an eyebrow. "What's the matter? Did the mites get your tongue?"

He wasn't sure what she meant by that. He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms against his chest. "My friends and I are here, helping out your king with..."

"Yes, yes, I saw. I'm not blind, you know." The centaurs voice had a slight growl to it, as if she was annoyed by Snap's mere presence. "I meant, what are you doing here? At my shop?" She chewed a few times, and Snap realized she had been chewing on a piece of bubble gum. She popped it once. "Shouldn't you be down there, helping your little friends?"

"Well yeah. But..I can't. No magic chalk or..."

"Ah yes. I see. You're the useless one, right?"

Snap's eyes bulged at this statement. He took a small step back, stammering as he struggled to find something to say. But he found himself unable to respond. The only thing he could do was stare at her in silence, watching as her eyes narrowed slightly and her mouth ticked to the side, looking further annoyed with him.

Did she really just say that? Did she call him useless? Yeah, she did. Snap could feel his gut starting to burn at this. This hadn't been the first time that he had been underestimated for being a zoner. But this was the first time that someone had been so rude to him about it. Just because he couldn't use magic chalk didn't mean he couldn't be helpful in other ways. Why couldn't zoners like her see that?

He then let out a forced sigh. He did his best to force his frown to disappear. There was no point in getting that angry with her. He could snap at her all he wanted to, and it wasn't going to change anything. He'd only succeed in worsening his reputation with her. Besides, there were bigger things to be concerned about than what this one zoner thought of him.

Snap had soon reached the top of the steps. He looked over at her. The centaur zoner watched him, but she didn't make a move towards him or say a word. That same look was on her face, and she looked like she wanted to ask him again why he was there.

But he decided not to give her that luxury.

Seeing how she wasn't even trying to stop him, Snap walked into the building. He winced as he hit against the bell, allowing it to ring.

Snap took a moment to look around the room. This place didn't look all that bad. It appeared to be a store that sold simple plushies. They didn't have too much detail to them, but they still looked really nice, and it was still easy to tell what they were supposed to be.

The plushies were all stacked into large piles, pyramid-shaped with some strange signs hanging over them, written in some odd language that he noticed wasn't present on the plans paper they were given. There were also some shelves that were hooked into the walls, and on there, there were more plushies. These had some more detail to them and they were smaller. He guessed they were pricier, though it was hard to tell.

There was a small area in the corner. A stone curve with a small opening and what looked to be a metal door. He notice what appeared to be some kind of register. A really old one, which he hadn't seen around for quite some time. This must be where the items would be paid for.

Snap walked further into the store, looking left and right. He couldn't help but smile, nearly forgetting about his uncomfortable encounter outside. This store was pretty nice, and he liked the look of some of these plushies. Even some of the simpler ones looked good. If only he had the proper money, he would totally buy one of these.

His mind soon ended up drifting back to the centaur woman outside. He couldn't help but wonder if she was up in a knot because Rudy and Penny were building a stadium near her place. Was she afraid of losing business? He couldn't help but chuckle softly. Well, that would certainly explain her attitude.

"I'll be right with you. Hold on."

Snap froze at that. He looked left and right as he tried to see where the voice had come from. Then he heard the sound of a door creaking open. He looked over and noticed there was a camouflaged door behind the register. He hadn't seen it before; it was so well hidden.

Stepping towards the front near the register was a human-like zoner. She wore one of those white robes or whatever they were called that the romans were often depicted wearing. Her hair was brown and pretty short, coming down only to about where her shoulders began. She looked far less muscular but appeared to be the same height as the centaur. Her chin practicaly narowed into a point, different from the centaur woman's more squarish chin.

Her light brown eyes were staring over at him with a soft expression. "May I help you?"

Snap smiled back at her. "Finally. Someone with a proper attitude." He immediately widened his eyes when he said that.

But the woman didn't seem bothered at all. She looked down at him and chuckled. "Oh, are you talking about Bronte?" At Snap's nod, she gave another quick laugh. "Oh don't mind her." She waived her hand dismissively. "She's always in a grumpy mood."

Snap couldn't exactly disagree with that. Not based on what he had seen. Bronte could use a few chill pills, he personally thought.

"By the way, my name is Calista, in case you are wondering." Calista placed a hand against herself. "And this is my shop. Bronte helps me out around here. She's the one who makes the more detailed plushies over there."

At this, Snap's eyes widened in shock. "She...makes those...?" He was having a hard time wrapping his head around that.

Calista nodded her head. "Yep she does. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, amazing that none of them have pouty faces on them or look like they want to rip someone apart."

Calista chuckled at Snap's statement. "You're pretty funny." She paused for a moment as she regarded him, moving her gaze up and down. "Oh, you must be Snap White. One of our visitors?"

Snap stood proudly, puffing up his chest. "Yep, that's me! Snap! Rudy's greatest creation!"

This earned Snap another short laugh from Calista. "You're pretty cute! So.." She got up onto the table, one leg hanging off the side. Snap could see that she was wearing some simple slippers. "What brings you to my shop?"

Snap folded his arms behind his back, kicking his foot once, and smiled. "Oh I was just...looking around."

"Anything in particular that you like?" Calista asked him, tilting her head to one side. "If there's anything in particular you are looking for, I can help you with that."

"Well I already looked around and..." Snap stopped himself for a moment. He didn't want to leave just yet. Calista was the first openly friendly zoner he had met since he got here. Staying here a little longer wouldn't hurt. Besides, it would take Rudy and Penny a while longer to complete the stadium. "Do you have anything else besides plushies?"

At this, Calista frowned, tilting her eyes upwards and scratched her chin. "Well, this store does specialize in plushies. But...if there's something really amazing you want to see. I can bring it out for you." She smiled at him. Then she raised her finger. "Or..I could show you in the back. It is pretty large anyway."

Snap tilted his head to one side. "What is it?"

"It's hard for me to describe in words." Calista said, a slight tinge of regret in her voice. "But trust me, it's incredible. Once you see it, you'll know why I'm so speechless about it."

Snap stood there for a few moments, pondering what he should do. A part of him wanted to just leave and go to the next store. But the other not only didn't want to leave Calista too quickly, but he also wanted to know what this item was.

This was Chalklantis. It was bound to be incredible. More incredible than the plushies, that's for sure. He could visualize it in his mind, and he could feel his heart begin to swell in excitement.

"All right then." Snap said with a smile. "Let's go have a look!"

Calista smiledat this. She gestured for him to follow her. Snap obeyed immediately. The two humanoid zoners headed towards the back room. The door was opened and they disappeared inside.

sss

"It's done... It's finally done..."

Penny took in a few heavy breaths as she continued to hover in the air. She could feel her chest was on fire. Her right arm felt so sore. She thought it was going to fall off. She was surprised she could even still hang onto the chalk at this point.

Looking over to her side where Rudy had spoken earlier, she could see that he was already lowering himself to the ground. She watched as he deactivated the rocket shoes and he collapsed on the ground as he rubbed his arm. Penny followed suit and took position next to him. She managed to keep standing for a few seconds before she eventually had to rest.

It was amazing how tired their legs were when they weren't even touching the ground. Was it because of the rocket shoes? They were a tad heavy. And they were wearing them for longer than usual. Normally, Rudy would only wear them for half an hour at most, maybe an hour at least once. But today, it felt like they had worn them for much longer. Maybe they did or didn't, but that didn't change the fact that she was pretty tired right now.

Mostly in her arm. She had never had to make that many lines and curves so carefully before. Matching them up to Rudy's was the hardest part. She guessed that was why Rudy was tired as well. They had to keep in synch and match their parts the best they could. This required extra thinking and more careful manuevering of the chalk. Rudy was rubbing his head. All that extra thinking was clearly giving him a headache.

Same with her. Penny couldn't help but press a hand against her forehead and gently massage it. She felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head and struck her with it. She hadn't expected this task to be this exhausting.

But at least they were done now. After they had worked together to draw each segment, and after they did what they could to connect the pieces together, the stadium was complete.

It sort of reminded Penny of a baseball stadium, with a touch of greek in it. It stood up tall and made a complete circle around. The top of it curved inward slightly. There were rows upon rows of seats, more than she and Rudy could count. Her arm ached just thinking about those darn seats. They were the main cause of her and Rudy's muscle aches.

The areas that connected the slices together were reformed into the walkways that would allow the zoners to move down and find a seat. Railings were added to help them avoid tripping and falling down, since there were at least one hundred steps.

She and Rudy didn't draw anything else yet. Nothing inside the stadium itself. They were going to have to talk to King Zander after this. She wasn't sure exactly what the king had in mind and she didn't want to add anything without his permission.

"Should...should we go to the king now?" Rudy asked.

"We have to wait for Kairos, remember?" Penny told him.

Rudy narrowed his eyes at that name. "Oh yeah..."

Penny could tell Rudy was not very happy with Kairos. None of them were. But they tried their best not to be too angry. That was just the way things were run around here. There was no reason to get upset.

Penny felt her eyes widen when she realized that they had forgotten something. "We still need to draw the building..."

Rudy let out a groan. There was a thud. Penny turned her head. She saw that he had collapsed into the ground. "Great..."

Rudy usually wasn't one to complain, but he can be pushed to his limits, like how Snap found out when he kept wanting Rudy to do more and more for his dream house. The stadium was a bit more detailed than he was used to, and the fact that it was so big certainly didn't help things. Perhaps now was a good time to take a break.

"We can rest for a little while if you want." Penny suggested, supporting herself against one of her hands. "I'm sure the king won't mind. I don't think Kairos will be back for a while, anyway."

Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah. That sounds good."

Penny nudged herself a little closer to Rudy and remained quiet. She listened to her friend breathing in and out, his rate slowing down as he finally caught his breath. She could feel her own heart beat start to slow down almost in rhythm to Rudy's heart. She rubbed her throat and chest, hoping that the soreness would go away soon. If only they had brought over some water.

Penny began to massage her arm again. She winced as she felt how sore it was. As her fingers worked on kneeding the muscles underneath, she lifted her head and began to look around. She noticed that Snap still hadn't come back yet.

This bit of information didn't strike her as very odd. There were some shops nearby. She guessed Snap was just striking a conversation with one of the locals. He would be back soon. She just needed to give him some time. It wasn't like he was going to forget so easily that Kairos was coming back. And Kairos wouldn't leave without him, now would he? The king wouldn't be happy if he did.

Penny's attempts to relax were constantly met with failure. She couldn't get her mind cleared. The plague of disappearances that King Zander mentioned, along with the mystery of how the king even found Snap's address and knew of their existence, swirled in her head. She could feel her headache get stronger as she couldn't help but rationalize the whole thing.

"What's wrong, Penny?" Rudy asked.

Penny bit her lip. "Oh Rudy... I'm still concerned about this whole thing."

"We all are." Rudy said as a matter of factly. "But we're going to be doing something about it soon." He smiled gently at her. "As soon as we are done with the final piece and we speak to King Zander, we will work together with King Zander and find out what's going on."

Penny looked over at him. "I can tell you're worried, too."

Rudy paused at this, his eyes widening. Then he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know I am. But...we have to try to stay positive, right?"

"Yeah I know. But...that's not the only thing troubling me. And I know that you and Snap are still concerned about it as well."

"You mean how the king knew about this?"

"Yeah...that."

Rudy nodded his head, looking at her sympathetically. "I'm sure everything will be explained soon. We can ask the king again when we see him a bit later on." He shifted himself so he was sitting up. He reached over and gently touched her shoulder. "It will be fine. I promise."

Penny, despite herself, managed to smile. "Yeah, I know it will be."

But will it? So many questions rushed through her head. She could feel her head continue to ache. She could feel her stomach twist. The confusion of how the king knew about them continued to bother her. Despite what her friends might say, she could tell both of them were troubled by this as well.

She managed to push the thoughts aside for now. Rudy was right. The king was sure to tell them eventually. It was only fair, right? The king didn't even have to go into detail. Just enough to finally put her and her friends' anxiety to rest.

Rudy, who wanted to change the subject, let out a groan as he rubbed his arm. "I hope my arm feels better before Kairos shows up. We still need to draw that one building. I won't be able to if my arm keeps hurting."

Giving Rudy a smile, Penny teased, "Well you could always use your left arm."

Rudy gave her a shocked look. "No way! You know how horrible I am with my left arm!" He gave a grimace, likely thinking about what wobbly drawings he would end up making drawings with his weaker arm. "I don't want a repeat of what happened with Jacko!"

"Speaking of Jacko..." Penny's smile broadened. "Do you think he finally realized the truth, or do you think he is still dating that statue?"

Rudy put his hand against his mouth and chuckled. "Well I'm sure he has snapped out of it by now. But he did seem so desperate for a bride." He held up his hand in gesture. "Maybe he decided to keep 'her'." He motioned downward a few times with his two fingers on both hands at this.

Penny couldn't help but laugh at that image. While she hadn't really met Jacko personally, from what Rudy and Snap told her, he was a real piece of work. He was constantly obsessed about getting a bride, and he mistook Rudy's pumpkin for one, and later cornered Rudy and tried to make him draw another bride. With how desperate he was, she wouldn't be surprised if he really did just keep the statue bride even after finding out the truth.

Penny realized that a chunk of time had already passed. She couldn't believe it. Time really did fly sometimes. She let out a groan as she stood back up onto her feet. "Well, are you ready to get back to work?"'

At this, Rudy lowered his head swiftly. "Is it that time already?"

"Yeah, Rudy. Come on, let's finish this and we can rest while we speak to King Zander." Penny looked down at her watch, which she had drawn earlier. She then turned back to Rudy. "I'm sure Snap will be hungry soon. And I'm getting hungry myself. Let's finish this and head off and eat some lunch."

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." Rudy agreed.

Igniting their shoes, the two children launched themselves into the air. They moved back towards the stadium. Despite their still-aching arms, they raised them up as they prepared to continue drawing. At least this is the final thing before they had to go back to the king. Nodding towards each other, they began their sketching.

sss

Kairos had returned faster than either of them had expected. The bird spun around a few times, as if he were taking in the sight of the stadium. Then he dove downwards towards them. He landed on the ground a few feet away.

"I see you finished already. Impressive." Kairos said. There was little excitement in his voice. "The king will be most pleased."

Rudy and Penny lowered their heads in front of Kairos as a sign of respect. He might not be the king, but he was still a royal. A higher up. They didn't want to unintentionally make him mad.

"Thank you." Penny said. "We would like to report to the king."

"Yes, yes, of course." Kairos tapped his metal feathers together. He motioned his wings forward. "Come along now. We musn't dilly dally. It's a long walk back."

Rudy raised up a finger. "But what about Snap? He still isn't back yet."

Rudy and Penny exchanged concerned looks to each other. They hadn't seen Snap at all since they began to build the stadium. Not even a single word. They thought that he was still in the shops, but it seemed a little odd he'd be in there for this long.

Kairos, however, didn't look the least bit concerned. "He will be fine, I'm sure. He's probably just mingling with the shop owners. I have heard he can be quite social."

This did make sense. Snap did love to socialize with other zoners. It was possible that Snap was just speaking to one of the shop owners and lost track of time. In that case, they needed to go grab him. They could not keep the king waiting.

Rudy began to walk towards where one of the shops were. He didn't get far when Kairos came into his path. Rudy took a few steps back, startled by the bird's sudden arrival.

Narrowing his eyes, Rudy said, "What are you doing? I was just going to get my friend."

Kairos nodded his head. "I understand, but we must leave now. No time to wait for your friend."

Penny took a step forward. "We can't just abandon him. We..."

Kairos raised up his hand to silence her. "It will be all right. I will send a ride out here to get him."

"Well, I guess that will be fine." Rudy didn't like the idea of leaving Snap alone, but perhaps it was for the best in this situation. There were a number of shops. Some were pretty large. It could take a while for them to find Snap, and the longer they wait, the more they could risk offending King Zander. "We're ready to..."

"Wait."

Rudy and Kairos turned to look over at Penny. She had a slight frown on her face. Rudy wondered what she was so confused about.

"If you're able to give Snap a ride then...why didn't we use one to get here faster?"

Rudy blinked a few times at this. He turned and looked over at Kairos and waited for an answer. That was a legitimate question, actually. Why didn't they use a form of transportation if they needed to get to the king quickly?

Kairos merely smiled at this. "I wanted to stretch my legs. Now come on now. If we start now, we will make it within the half hour."

"But..." Rudy stifled himself. There was really no point in trying to argue with Kairos. He looked over at Penny, exchanging a flustered and exhausted look with her. Then he turned his attention back to where the bird was walking. "We're coming..."

With that, they began to head back.

sss

King Zander looked absolutely jovial. "That's great! You got that all made and in record time, too! I'm sure my people will love it!"

Rudy and Penny couldn't help but smile at this. Despite their frustrations, they were glad that they were staring to made a different in this place. They felt a sense of pride swell up inside of them. They were both eager to see what the king had to say about their handiwork.

But for now, onto some more serious matters.

"About these disappearances..." Rudy began.

"Oh yes, I will get to that. But first..I..." The king bit his lip for a second. "Is it all right if we see the stadium first? I would be most pleased if I saw for myself what you two have done."

Rudy couldn't believe it. They hadn't been in the palace for more than a few minutes, and already the king wanted to travel all the way back. Rudy could feel his legs threaten to give out. "Right now?"

"We just got here." Penny said. "And isn't talking about the disappearances more important than some stadium."

The king stared at them for a few seconds, completely silent. He soon smiled and nodded his head. "Oh yes it is. You are right on that. I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't care. I still want to see. How about this?" He brought his hands together. "I will take you on one of my rides. You won't have to walk, and we will be there in no time."

Although Rudy was annoyed at going back there yet again, especially when he was getting hungry, he decided not to press further. Besides, getting a ride this time certainly sounded better than what Kairos had them doing. "All right then."

"What about Snap?" Penny asked. "Kairos said he was going to have a ride coming for him. What if he passes us?"

"Then he can wait here at the palace for you." King Zander offered. "He is more than welcome to stay in the dining hall if he pleases."

Well that was good to know. Rudy and Penny just hoped that Snap wouldn't be too annoyed with them for leaving him behind and for missing them on their way back. They would catch up to him soon enough.

Without saying another word, the two children went towards King Zander as he led them down the hallway. In silence, they continued to walk, passing by more beautiful art pieces and statues. This time, the two children were too exhausted to really pay them much attention. Their leg muscles were aching and they just wanted to sit down.

And when they arrived at the room King Zander was leaning towards, they nearly lost the strenght in their legs and collapsed right there.

It was some kind of mechanical horse. No, two of them. They were styled to look very similar to the famous Trojan Horse from the legends. One was silver and one was gold. Both had purple gems for eyes. The horses could not move their segmented necks as they were locked in place. Despite that, it still seemed like they were staring over at them, right into their souls.

"Oh not to worry, you two." King Zander said with a smile. "Lux and Zephyr are harmless." He motioned his hand for them to follow him. "Come on now. Get in the carriage. Lux and Zephyr here will take us to the stadium in no time."

Rudy hesitated. Despite the king's reassurances, he didn't feel all that safe around these two robotic horses. He wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was their angry facial expressions they always seemed to have. Maybe it was their sharp-tipped hooves. Maybe it was their intense eyes that seemed to stare right through him. Whatevere the reason he found himself unable to move for a few seconds.

Then, taking in a deep breath, he forced himself to walk over. Penny followed closely behind. The two moved hesitantly and cautiously. They refused to take their eyes off of the horses as they made their way towards the carriage where King Zander was waiting.

Soon, they were sitting in the carriage. They could feel themselves start to relax a little as they felt themselves press agaisnt the soft, warm cushioning of the carriage. They could feel the aches from their feet vanish almost completely as their weight was removed from them. They leaned back against the carriage, and got themselves comfortable.

"Are you two ready?" King Zander asked as he looked down at them. He was situated a little further front. He was sitting somewhere that appeared to be a control panel of some kind.

Rudy and Penny nodded their heads.

At this, King Zander turned his attention towards the two metallic horses. He pressed his foot down against what looked like a lever-shaped pedal and the horses immediately began to rush forward. Rudy and Penny had to hold on tightly.

Their eyes widened in horror when they saw they were approahing a wall. They let out a cry and hung onto each other. King Zander merely pressed a button. There was a loud rumbling sound as the wall was lifted up towards the ceiling, almost like a garage. Rudy and Penny watched this in awe, lifting up their heads to look at it as they ran underneath it.

Soon they were outside. Rudy and Penny looked left and right as they moved along the path at such amazing speed for horses. They both wished this thing came with a seat belt, however. It felt like it would be very easy for one of them to fall off.

Rudy turned his head towards King Zander. Although he wasn't entirely comfortable with asking this now, it just seemed that now might be a good time to ask. He was certain that, by the time they got to the stadium, the king would be more preoccupied with that.

"How did you know about us?"

At this, the king's eyes widened. Rudy and Penny glanced at each other. They looked back. They waited for an answer.

And for a few moments, there were no answers. No attempts to speak. Just silence. It was as if the king was struggling with finding the right thing to say. Rudy wondered just why it was so difficult for the king to properly respond. Was it really that hard?

The king slowly turned his head and looked down at them. He remained silent for a while longer before he finally spoke. "If you want to know the truth, and I'm sure you do, I sent up a watcher long ago to help keep an eye on things. He relays information to me on a regular basis."

Penny's eyes widen. "You were spying on us?"

"If you want to put it that way. But the only reason I did it was to make sure there was no growing conflict or potential for invasion. Rest assured I do not watch everyone twenty four seven. I only have him report important things to me."

Rudy and Penny looked at each other. Before they could speak again, the king cut them off.

"I will explain more of that later. I do promise you that." King Zander gave them both a glance. "Everything will make sense in due time. But let's save that for later."

sss

About fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the stadium. Penny was surprised it took them this fast. They didn't seem to be moving much faster as she and Rudy were earlier when they walked. But perhaps that was just her imagination.

King Zander moved the horses over towards the stadium. He pressed a button, which caused the two metallic horses to neigh and rear up on their hind legs. They soon settled down as the king jumped out of the carriage with each, with such grace. He pulled out some rope and attached the horses to the side of the stadium, the end of the ropes attached wth what looked to be strong magnets.

Penny climbed out of the carriage as did Rudy. She flinched as she felt the weight returning to her feet. She tried her best to ignore the ache as she and Rudy walked towards the king, who was waiting for them expectantly.

"So..what do you think?" Rudy asked carefully.

King Zander looked up at the piece of structure. He rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing softly as he looked from one side to the other. "It's quite good. It looks better than how I had imagined it. I didn't even think that was possible."

Penny couldn't help but smile at this. Rudy smiled as well. The king looked pleased with their work. She was glad. A part of her was worried that he was going to take a look at it and tell them it wasn't what he wanted and make them redo it. Her arm ached at the possibility of having to repeat all this work.

Now that the stadium was finished, they could soon begin to talk about the problems this place was facing. While the other zoners could have fun at this stadium and play whatever sport they wanted, the king and her and her friends could talk about how to deal with these disappearances. She still felt it would have been better if they talked about that as soon as they got there. She didn't see a point in delaying it. But oh well. At least they could begin now.

These disappearances scared Penny. What could cause so many zoners to just vanish like that? She hoped that they would be able to get to the bottom of it soon. Otherwise, who knows how many other zoners might disappear? What was happening to them? Were they dead? Hurt? Trapped?

And what if it spread to the surface? This thought still sent a chill down her spine.

The fact that Snap still wasn't with them unsettled her. But she did quickly regain her senses when she reminded herself that he was back at the palace, probably eating. He was fine...at least for the time being. She hoped and prayed that Snap wouldn't be the next victim of this disappearing plague.

Which is why they needed to start talking now. She turned her head to King Zander, who was pacing around the side of the stadium, a small smile still on his face and his hands folded behind his had.

"Hey, King Zander? We..."

King Zander immdiately interrupted. "Do you two mind if you take me on a little tour of this place?"

"What? Tour?" Rudy tilted his head to one side. "But you designed this place, didn't you?"

"Well yes, I did." King Zander turned his head and looked over at Penny and Rudy. "But it's one thing to design. It's another to experience."

"Well that is correct.." Rudy admitted, scratching the top of his head. "Okay then, we'll do it. Right, Penny?"

"Yeah." Penny nodded her head once. "And then we discuss your city's issues, am I right?"

"Of course." King Zander brought his hands together. "I have not forgotten about that. We have so much to talk about."

Rudy and Penny nodded in agreement to that. They both knew that it was going to take lots of discussion before they could think of a solution to this problem. The king was going to elaborate later on just what was happening in his beloved kingdom.

"Let's begin." King Zanda said. He motioned his hand in front of him.

Penny nodded her head and, with Rudy at her side, led King Zander towards one of the doors. She grabbed the latch and pushed it upwards. Soon, they stepped inside to begin the tour.

Penny couldn't help but look around in awe and wonder at what she and Rudy managed to accomplish. They had been so tired earlier, they didn't have a chance to fully enjoy the beauty of their creation. It was absolutely marvelous.

The bleachers that rose up all around seemed to almost glint and glow in the sunlight. There were some sparkles along the metal railings. The stadium itself was a dark blue with a pale white outline around it. The ground they stood on was solid and smooth. It was still dirt, but it felt almost upgraded, even shining like marble did.

And the tall structure behind it, they could see it even from way down here. The building was a deep purple and had a top that had curves and straights. It looked almost like an octagon that someone decided to cut in half and place on top of some random building. And right in front of them as they passed, she could see the red double door that presently closed. Even the door looked pretty, with gold, decorative lines all over it and a shine to it.

Yes, this was one fine-looking stadium. She and Rudy did a great job on it. This was probably their best collaboration ever.

Now, they should begin to discuss matters with the king. They needed to...

Suddenly, Penny felt something heavy hit against the back of her head. Her eyes bulged and she let out a cry of pain. She dropped down onto her knees, wobbling from side to side. She couldn't tell what was going on, her eyes unfocused and her hearing all echoey. She thought she heard Rudy and the king shout something, but her hearing was too distorted to tell.

Then she collapsed onto the ground about two seconds later. Her vision darkened up and she slowly closed her eyes. Then all was silent.


	7. True Colors

Penny groaned softly as she opened up her eyes. Her head ached and it found like something was pounding against it. She pushed herself up on her hands, but did not have the strength yet to push herself all the way up.

She looked around, trying to get a bearing on her location. She was somewhere that was a little dark. Not tremendously so, but it was hard for her to tell just where she was. Everything was grey and black and so blurry. No sharp images were getting through to her head.

She shut her eyes and rubbed her head. She immediately winced when she felt an area of soreness in the back. She pulled back her hand instinctively to look for blood. No signs of red. But that didn't stop the swell of fear rising up inside of her.

Just what happened? Why was her head hurting? Why was she here? Just where was here? What was going on?

Where was Rudy and Snap...?

At this chilling question, Penny's eyes widened further. Now able to see a bit of detail, she whipped her head from one side to the other. She took in several quick breaths, feeling panic rising up inside of her. What if something terrible happened to them? What if they were stuck far away from her, badly hurt? What if...?

Penny felt herself let out a sigh of relief when she found Rudy. He was laying down next to her. His head was lopped to the side and she could tell he was still out cold.

She quickly surveyed him for injuries. She soon felt a bump on his head and she concluded he must have been struck as well. She grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him, but she got no response from him. Feeling her heart race, she pressed a finger against his neck. She was relieved that he still had a heartbeat. His chest rose and fell steadily and, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was just sleeping.

Penny soon managed to sit up completely. She crossed her legs, groaning softly at the stiffness of her muscles. She blinked her eyes a few times as the imagery around her finally became clear and sharp. She looked around slowly. Her eyes slowly widened.

She and Rudy were in some kind of cage. A pretty-looking one, with designs and stuff chipped away on it. But still a cage nonetheless. The bars were close together, leaving little room for theme to even squeeze a hand through, let alone their whole bodies. The cage looked like it was made out of some really strong material. Even if she and Rudy used their spit, it would take too long to get out and their captors would have noticed.

This realization caused her heart to clench. She and Rudy were...kidnapped. Someone had knocked them out. Someone had taken them away. Now they sit here, in the corner of a dark room. There was nothing here except for a bit of light and she could see the corners of a curved hallway. That was it.

She could feel herself start to tremble. The fact that she was injured didn't hold a candle to the fact that she was trapped. The unknown of how long she and Rudy will be here, or what was going to happen to them, frightened her a lot more than the bump on her head.

"P-Penny...?" Rudy suddenly groaned. His eyes fluttered open. He looked up at her. Penny bit her lip when she saw how dull his eyes looked. "What...What happened...?"

Penny reached over and gently helped Rudy sit up. She allowed him to use her as support as he tried not to fall over. He put a hand to his head and rubbed it. She winced as she saw his expression when he found the sore bump.

"Who hit me...?"

Penny shook her head. "I...I don't know, Rudy. I..." She looked left and right. "Where's Snap...?"

Almost immediately, there was a chance in Rudy's expression. At the drop of a hat, he went from being groggy to being terrified. He stared at Penny with wide eyes. He then immediately turned around. He looked left and right, trying to find where Snap was. Penny joined in. They kept scanning the room, but to their horror, Snap was nowhere to be found.

It wasn't just Snap, either. King Zander was gone as well. No sign of the king could be seen.

"Where could they be...?" Rudy whispered softly. "What was done to them..?"

Penny winced as she felt a jolt of pain in the back of her head. She looked over at Rudy worriedly. "They...must have been taken somewhere else."

Rudy shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. "How could I have let this happen? I should have been more alert!"

Penny looked at Rudy sadly. She couldn't blame him for feeling so angry. They had been right there, and they were still caught. The king and all of Chalklantis had been counting on them to stop these criminals from striking...

...only to be caught themselves.

What kind of guardians were they? If they couldn't even keep themselves safe... How were they going to save Chalklantis?

But despite all that, Penny tried her best not to panic. They were still alive. They were still able bodied. They still had a chance to fix this. All they had to do was try to figure a way out of here. Once they escape, they could identify their captors and have them stopped for good. It will be hard to get out of here, but she still believed that, working together, she and Rudy could succeed in escaping.

"We'll get out of here." Penny said, trying to sound as confident as she could. "I know we can."

Rudy, however, didn't seem as convinced. Despite that he did try to sound confident himself. "Y-Yeah... You're right..." Rudy hissed in mild pain as he straightened up his stiff legs. Soon he stood up and he took a few steps forward. "M-Maybe if we try to do something about these bars..."

Penny watched him get a little closer. Her eyes focused on the bars themselves. Her eyes flew open when she noticed something off about them. She immediately held out her hand and cried out for him, "Wait! Stop!"

Rudy froze and nearly stumbled back at the volume of her voice. "What? What is it?"

Penny didn't hesitate to answer. "It's electrified!"

The two children stared at the cage bars in shock. It was hard to tell from the middle of the cage, but it became apparent as they got closer that these bars weren't ordinary. They had a current of electricity snaking around them, made apparent by the few sparks that flew off the sides. Even though the electricity was chalk-based, it would still hurt them severely if they touched it.

Penny took in a few quick breaths. There had to be a way out of here. They had to find some way to escape and go help Snap and the king, wherever they may be. A thought soon crossed her mind. She looked over at Rudy hopefully.

"Maybe we could try drawing something?" She suggested.

At this, Rudy immediately moved his hands around his pants. They slipped inside his pockets and he looke around. Seconds later, his eyes grew larger. "I...I don't have my chalk..."

"What...?" Penny whispered softly. No..it wasn't possible... But after a quick search, she realized that she was just as chalkless as her friend. "They must have taken our chalk when they ambushed us..."

Penny and Rudy exchanged looks of horror. Their kidnappers, whoever they were, they were quite intelligent. Locking them up here in an electrified cage with no magic chalk. Many thoughts swirled through their minds as they tried to make sense of what happened. Over and over again, the same question popped in their minds.

Just who could have done this...?

sss

Rudy couldn't believe what was happening. His mind was still recovering from the initial shock. He was still trying to fight back the raw terror that he was feeling, knowing that he and Penny were trapped and they had no idea where they were, or how long they'd be here. The realization that he and Penny might suffer the same fate as those missing zoners dwelled heavily on his mind, making his heart clench.

But like Penny, he was trying his best to remain calm and not panic too much. He wouldn't be able to think very well if he let his emotions get the better of him in this situation. After all, a terrified and panicked mind would not be able to think of an escape route that well, now would it?

He tried to think of what had happened recently that led up to this. He let the images play in the back of his mind.

He remembered that he and Penny had drawn some kind of stadium. He felt his arm muscles ache at the mere thought of that. They had also walked so far a few times. Leg muscles ached at that. But so far, nothing that could have helped him identify what had happened. There had to be something else.

There was. A moment later, he recalled that the king wanted to come and see the stadium for himself. And that's about where his memory stopped.

Did they even arrive at the stadium? Were their captors laying in wait? Or were they taken from the palace itself?

Did their captors take Snap? He recalled that Snap seemed to disappear. He and Penny thought it was because he went inside one of the shops. That was their best idea. But he was still gone. Did he get caught? Or did he escape? If he had escaped, Rudy hoped that Snap would avoid getting caught.

Another chilling thought was the fact that the king was missing, too. Either he escaped or he was caught. Rudy bit his lip. He hoped and prayed that King Zander was all right. If he was caught, he could only imagine the chaos that would wrought onto Chalklantis. The screams, the panic, he could already visualize it inside his head.

But for now, there was nothing he or Penny could do about their predicament. They could only sit there in the silent room, leaning against each other for support, and wait for any sign of their captors, or someone. It was all they could do.

Then, finally, after several moments of silence, the two children raised their heads at the sound of a door opening. It was a bit distant, and there was a slight echo as the door was open and shut. Then, after a brief silence, they could hear footsteps.

These footsteps... There was something...familiar about them. Rudy listened to them intently, tilting his head to one side as he tried to catch the sound in its entirety. The footsteps sounded mostly normal, like what he'd expect from himself or his friends. But there was something different about it. A slight clang to it. As if the zoner had...

Rudy felt his eyes widen and there was a sharp swelling in his chest. Stepping towards them, the small bit of light finally illuminating the figure, was King Zander.

Rudy and Penny's immediate reaction was elation. So it seemed that the king had escaped the captors after all. They immediately wanted to flood him with questions. How did he escape? What did he do with the captors? Was it really safe now? How was he going to get them out of there?

But their excitement was quickly dashed, replaced with a shoot of ice in their veins. Something was really wrong here. The closer the king got the more they realized just how off he looked. And why was he looking at them like that...?

"You two are awake now." King Zander said. He spoke in such a cold, matter-of-factly way, so different from the warmth from before. "How do you like your new...accomodations?"

Immediately, the two children froze in horror. They stared at the king, the reality of what happened slowly sinking in. They could feel their blood cooling rapidly as recent events played in the back of their minds. A new understanding came into play.

Rudy felt his stomach burning. It was as if it was set on fire. The heat rose, starting from the pit and worked it way up. Soon his whole belly felt hot. That heat spread through his arms and legs and face. He could feel himself start to quake as the rage of emotions swelled inside of him. He could feel his teeth begin to clench together. He could feel his eyes narrowing, his hands forming into fists.

Soon, the negative emotions began to overflow from the top. It poured down, and Rudy had reached his breaking point. With one final shiver, he immediately took a step forward and pointed a finger towards the king.

"What the hell is going on?!"

King Zander's dark brown eyes widened slightly at this. Then a small, amused smile came onto his elongated face. "You are a little young to be using such words, aren't you?"

Rudy growled at this. "Enough of that! Just tell me what is going on!" At this point, Rudy didn't care if he was breaking any sort of 'royal rule'. This zoner had a lot to answer for.

King Zander raised his head up slightly. "I am just starting to execute..." He lowered his head, leaning it closer. "..the real part of my plan."

"Plan? What plan?" Penny suddenly gave a gasp. She looked over at the king with a disbelieving look. "You...you're the one who has been making citizens...disappear...aren't you...?"

At this King Zander let out a quick, almost novial laugh. He pressd his hand against his chest, his head flying back to where they could only see the underneath of his chin and throat.

The sight of this confused the two children. They looked at one another. What did the king find so funny? Did he really think that kidnapping his own people was something to laugh about? Rudy could feel his blood boiling at the thought. The realization that the king himself was the cause of all this, and that he had the gall to call for help for something that he was doing... Rudy was trying his best not to rush at the deer zoner.

"You two haven't figured it out by now? I love my kingdom." King Zander said. He stared at them with a slight frown. "Why would I do such a thing to my own people?"

Penny narrowed her eyes. "The disappearances..."

King Zander smirked. "I lied."

King Zander needn't say anything further for the two children to realize what happened. Everything began to fall into place. The king had been deceiving them since day...or rather, hour one. This whole thing... It had been a trap. And they fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

Rudy wanted to say something. He really wanted to tear into this zoner, demanding to know how he could have done such a thing. But at the moment, all he could do was stand there and seethe. His body continued to quake, his blood's heat making even his face feel warm, like someone pressed a heating blanket on him for too long. If it weren't for the electrified bars and the king's high status, Rudy probably would've lost control of himself and lunged at him.

But as much as he wanted to, he knew that violence wouldn't solve anything. He kept himself standing there, still except for the shakes. He opened his mouth slowly, exposing his teeth. He sucked in shaky breath after shaky breath, each one laced with a growl.

"I admit, I wasn't sure if my notes would even work on you. I thought to myself that maybe you would be smart enough to see through my little ruse." King Zander said, walking to the side a little, his arms folded behind his back. "But lo and behold..." He gave them a sideways glance. "Here you are..." He chuckled softly, a sneer spreading across his deer-like face. "Trapped like a couple of fish in a tank. To think capturing you two was so easy..."

"Why have you brought us here?!" Rudy demanded.

King Zander raised a finger, pointing it straight up. "So you would be far away from your other...zoner friends." Rudy and Penny's eyes widened at this. The king continued, "I am well aware that there are plenty of land dwellers who look up to you. They would have been such a problem. But down here..." He lowered his hand, his palm facing up. "They can't do a thing to help you, now can they...?"

Although Rudy and Penny were making it very clear how angry they were, deep inside, they were more terrified and fearful than angry. Not only have they been tricked by this king so easily, but he had deliberately cut off any protection they had. They were cut off away from the rest of their zoner friends, and there was no doubt in their minds that he was the one who took their magic chalk.

There was another realization that they had as well.

The stadium... That had been part of the king's plan as well. The king hadn't said anything about it, but they could tell, from the look in his eyes, that he had fully intended on using it to trap for them. They must be in the building the two of them had drawn earlier. And the stadium itself... it wasn't for entertainment. It was their prison.

Suddenly, the two felt a cold wave of fear shoot through them that nearly made them topple over. Snap... Their best friend... What had happened to him? He wasn't in that shop, was he? Nor was he at the palace, eating that food, like the king said he would. This experience alone was enough to disprove that.

Where was Snap? What did the king do with him? What did he have planned for him?

For them?

King Zander appeared to notice their expressions and read their mind. He took a small step back, tilting his head slightly to one side. The smile spread a little further. He raised his hand up above his head, pressed lightly against one of his antlers. He snapped his finger the sound almost echoing across the room.

In a few seconds, the doors opened up again. Two large boar zoners, one gold and one red walked in. They looked absolutely intimidating. Their hardened glares, their sharp tusks sticking out of their mouths, their broad shoulders and thick necks and burly chests. Bullynerd had nothing on these two guys. But what scared Rudy and Penny the most was what these two were holding in their hoof-like hands.

"Snap!" Rudy cried out in horror.

Snap's arms were grasped roughly by the two boar zoners. The small blue zoner was wriggling from side to side, demanding to get freed. Although Rudy felt relief that Snap didn't appear injured, his heart continued to clench as he watched his friend being handled in such a way.

Rudy couldn't help but feel a cold chill in the back of his neck as he thought about what Snap had been put through. He didn't know how long he had been gone. Did the king recently get him? Or was he captured earlier? What did the king have done to him before? Did he threaten to hurt him or his friends? Did he try to torment Snap mentally? Where was Snap held up to this point? So many questions crowed in Rudy's head, it began to ache.

Snap, still dangling in the air, tried to twist himself from side to side. The two boars tightened their grip. Snap shut his eyes and flinched in pain. But he refused to scream. He glared up at his two captors, gritting his teeth.

"Let me go!" Snap cried. He yanked himself to one side as hard as he could. He yelped when he pulled a little too hard. He froze for a moment, breathing in through clenched teeth. Then he said, "I'm warning you! If you don't let me go, I'll...!"

Snap went silent as he stared over at King Zander. His eyes flashed with realization and anger. He then started to struggle to get over to him. King Zander just stared at him, looking absolutely non-threatened by the small zoner. The king's only response was the lift of a single finger, and the utterance of three small words.

"You heard him."

Rudy and Penny watched as the two boar zoners carried their struggling friend towards them. The door was opened up and, with a single, rough throw, Snap came crashing into the center of the cage. He landed with his face in the ground and his legs up. He remained like that for a few seconds before his legs joined the ground with the rest of his body. As soon as his legs hit, the door was shut, the loud clanging ringing in their ears for a few seconds.

Rudy and Penny joined Snap at his side. They grabbed onto his arms and they helped him up to his feet. They steadied him while he regained his footing. They looked at Snap sympathetically as he rubbed his face. There were a few small scrapes on it, and they were certain he was going to get at least one small bruise from that.

The trio soon glared back over at the king. The realization that they had been so badly tricked sunk deeper into their heads. And the fact that they didn't know what was going to happen to them yet... The combination of fear and anger that swelled in their heads caused their bodies to continue to shake.

But no matter how angry they were, no matter how scared they were, Rudy knew there was nothing they could do right now. The door to their cell had already been locked. They were completely trapped.

He watched with heated blood, his eyes nearly seeing red, as King Zander paced back and forth in front of the cage. He glanced down at them, that eerie smile on his face. He said not a word. The only sound that could be heard was his own clopping footsteps.

The silence during this was eerie. The trio kept their bodies hunched defensively, not daring to take their eyes off the deer-like zoner before them. Their eyes moved left and right, following every movement, every turn, as the deer zoner kept pacing in front of them. His dark eyes regarded them coldly, but still with a level of interest. He was regarding them like they were mere annoying objects. Sacks of meat, and nothing more.

Finally, the king stopped. He stood a few feet in front of the cage. He stared down at them, locking eyes with them. He raised his head up in a scoff and snort, sounding amused and curious. "I have heard..so much about you three. I do hope that what I heard was true. It would be such a shame that I would waste so much time getting you down here..." He tilted his head to one side a little further than before. "..if you two failed to live up to your reputation."

Rudy gritted his teeth. He took a step in front of his friends protectively. "What are you going to do to us?" His voice was forcibly calm, but inside, he was ready to explode.

"Oh don't worry about that. You will find out soon enough." King Zander said to them with a sneer. "Now..." King Zander turned his back to them. "Why don't you get some rest? You'll need it." With that, King Zander began to walk away.

"No! Don't you dare leave!" Rudy called out.

"You have more questions to answer!" Penny joined in.

Snap raised up a clenched fist. "Come back here!"

But no matter what they said, neither the king nor his two boar guards paid them any mind. They were completely ignored as they walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

sss

Penny looked at Rudy sympathetically. The boy was down on his knees, his eyes wide as he was taking in all that had happened. She and Snap glanced at each other. They both wanted to help him, but right now, they kept to themselves. Rudy needed a few moments to reorient his thoughts.

Watching him shiver in anger like this, it was difficult to watch. Penny had never seen Rudy look like this before. Then again, they had never been so horribly tricked before. To think, they had come all this way hoping to have a good time, then finding out there was trouble, and wanting to help...and then they trapped in a cell.

Penny would have thought the king was better than this. If he really did have eyes on the surface, then he would know the truth. He would know that they had been helping people. Why...would he lock them up like this?

Unless... Maybe the king and the rest of the citizens of Chalklantis were highly frightened of surface dwellers? Perhaps somehow, he misunderstood the information given to him, and he thought that they were going to be some kind of threat?

Right now, though, the king's reasoning of why he did this didn't matter to Penny. No matter the reason, it wasn't going to change the fact that he still tricked them and he still trapped them without any remorse. It didn't make her feel any less angry or betrayed. It kind of reminded her of the time when Skrawl accepted Rudy's help, only to backstab him immediately afterward.

But this case was so much worse.

Snap's expression told Penny that he, too, felt infuriated by this. Even if he didn't say anything, his expression, the look in his eyes, it was enough to tell her everything.

"I...I can't believe it..."

Penny and Snap looked over at Rudy as his voice caught their attention. The boy was looking at the ground, his hands trembling.

"Bucko...?" Snap asked, his voice laced in concern. "You okay..?" A stupid question, yes, but Snap couldn't help but ask it anyway.

Rudy didn't answer. He just continued to stare at his own hands. His eyes were widened, looking almost sorrowful. "We...We came... W-We wanted to help... And he tricked us..."

Penny winced at how Rudy sounded. The way his voice was hissing through his clenched teeth, it was unsettling to listen to. "Rudy..." She reached out towards him.

Suddenly, Rudy gave a yell and he slammed a fist against the ground. This sudden action caused Penny and Snap to jump back in shock. They stared at Rudy, keeping their distance away from him. Rudy hunched over, shuttings his eyes tightly, his teeth clenched so hard it looked like they were going to pop out. He took in a few heavy breaths, each one having a growly edge to it. For a few moments, he almost sounded like an angered dog. And when he finally looked up, Penny and Snap couldn't stop themselves from cringing from how his eyes looked.

"How...how could I have been so blind?! I should have known that this was a trap! I should have seen it coming!"

Penny bit her lip. "Rudy...none of us could have known that..."

Rudy whipped his his head around and glared at her. "I should have known! I'm the protector of ChalkZone! The Great Creator! And to fall for such an obvious trap..." He looked away. He closed his eyes as a few bitter tears fell down his face. "I was such an idiot..."

Penny moved cautiously over towards Rudy. She knelt down beside him. She reached over and she gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders, gently squeezing them. Rudy didn't attempt to fight. "Rudy, this wasn't your fault."

"..then whose fault was it...?" Rudy hissed.

"It was none of our faults. We couldn't have known that this would happen. We were never here before. We didn't know what anybody here was like." Penny said in a gentle voice. "Please, don't kick yourself over this, Rudy. You had no way of knowing. Please...don't blame yourself."

"Yeah, Bucko." Snap took position by Rudy. He looked down at him. There was a look of determination in his eyes. "We will get out of here. Those creepazoids can't keep us locked up forever. They will pay. You'll see."

There was a bit of silence following that. Penny and Snap watched their friend sadly. They both hoped that their words had gotten through to him. He needed to understand that none of them were to blame for this. It was King Zander's fault and not theirs. They mustn't lose sight of that, and they needed to concentrate on finding their way out of here.

"I...suppose so. I want to believe you guys." Rudy finally spoke. The anger from his voice was gone, replaced instead by frustration and despair. "But without the magic chalk, how are we going to get out?"

Penny and Snap could understand Rudy's uncertainty. While they had gotten out of messes before without the magic chalk, like how Rudy got Reggie out of ChalkZone using only his words and wit, this situation was much different.

But despite the uncertainty, they tried their best to remain confident. Lingering doubt was going to do little to help them.

Penny's eyes furrowed as she stared into Rudy's eyes. "We'll find away."


	8. Unwelcome

How long had they been in here? How long has it been since the king left them alone? How long had they been trapped in here, waiting for something to happen?

At this point, who cared? The end result was that they were still trapped, still tricked so easily. And now all they could do was sit around and wait for whatever fate to befall on them.

Snap couldn't help but feel that this had been all his fault. If he had just seen through the trap earlier, he might have been able to get away without arising suspicion and warn Rudy and Penny. They could have gotten out of here faster. They could have escaped this horrible fate.

...or would they? Snap had forgotten to take into account the fact that the zoners here may have sealed up their submarine. He had little reason to believe that they would just leave the submarine alone, unguarded at the very least. Or even ripped apart and dismantled. It could be laying in several pieces right about now, and it would take forever to put it back together.

And even if it weren't taken or guarded and just left there, he couldn't forget about the shield around this place. The shield would be impossible to go through. As soon as they tried to enter it, it would hug them in its rubbery substance. These zoners were so paranoid about newcomers that they will not hesitate to shoot if given enough reason. And if the king found out about their escape and ordered them to be caught dead or alive...

Snap couldn't decide which fate would be worse. To be captured and held prisoner down here, or to be killed. Both fates would result in the same thing: their friends on the surface not knowing what happened to them.

Snap couldn't bear the thought of his friends wondering where they were, being so worried and in so much emotional pain that they were gone. He could only just begin to imagine all the stuff that they'd be going through as they struggled to make sense of what happened. What hurt even more is that, no matter how good a search party they got, even if they got someone like Boorat somehow to help, it would not be enough. Boorat's sense of smell might be great, but he doubt even he could find him deep in the ocean.

They were stuck in here. They were on their own. They would have to find their own way out.

Snap could feel burning anger rise in his stomach. It wasn't just himself he was angry at. He still couldn't believe that King Zander had done all of this just to get to them. The king hadn't even told them yet why he did this. His last words to them made it sound as if he had big plans for them. But what were they?

Snap still managed to keep his anger in check, despite how difficult it was. Yelling at the king would only make things a lot worse. The king had so much power here. At the snap of a finger, he could have them tossed into a pot of boiling lava or something. Or whatever else the king might think of.

He looked over at his friends. Penny was sitting cross-legged not too far to his right. She had a contemplative look on her face. She was staring up at the ceiling. From the looks of it, she was trying to find a way out. But she was having trouble. Snap hoped that she would be able to figure something out soon, but he wasn't holding his breath. The king had been pretty thorough.

As for Rudy himself, he sat near Penny with his back turned to her. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He rested his chin on his knees, taking in a breath and sighing softly. Rudy had been pretty silent for a while. Although he looked calm, Snap knew that he was in raging turmoil internally. He had blamed himself for this happening. Despite his and Penny's reassurances, that did little to stop Rudy from being angry at himself.

But the only one he should be angry at is King Zander. It was he who had orchestrated this. It was he who had issued out those notes, tricking them to coming here. It was he who had fooled them into setting this place up. He was the only one at fault. Rudy shouldn't blame himself.

But Snap would be lying if he said he didn't understand. After all, he also blamed himself for this happening and felt that he could have done more. He was certain that, on some level, Penny felt the same way, too. But they were here now, and there was nothing they could do to change the past.

They needed to focus on getting out of here.

Just then, there was the steady tapping of something thin and sharp on the ground. Snap gave a soft growl. He knew very well who this was.

"What do you want?" Snap found himself saying.

"I just came to see how you three were...handling yourselves."

At this, Snap and his two friends turned their heads to glare at Kairos. The bird zoner was approaching their cage slowly. He was holding his head up high. No full on smile, but Snap thought he could see the faintest glimpse of a smirk.

"How do you think we're handling ourselves?" Penny's voice was laced in sarcasm. "You all tricked us..."

At this, Kairos's facial expression seemed to furrow for a moment. Snap thought he caught the glimpse of sympathy in the zoner's eyes. It was fleeting, and it was difficult to tell that it was genuine. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. This swift sympathetic expression wasn't enough to change Snap's mind about this bird zoner.

He had been helping King Zander set all of this up. He was the king's right-hand man. He was with him until the end. That alone made him untrustworthy. Snap watched him warily, refusing to take his eyes off of him.

Kairos nodded his head once. "Yes. That is true." The bird zoner spread his wings out. His metal feathers pointed foward, splayed almost like a hand. "But for good cause."

"Good cause?! How is kidnapping us a good cause?!" Rudy snarled as he climbed up to his feet. "Why have you done this?!"

Kairos gave a tiny, thin smile. It hardly hid anything that they could already see in his eyes. "We have reasons for everything here. You will find out in due time. Of course..." He shut his eyes and flowered his head. "I am amazed you haven't figured it out by now. A group of your...calibur...should be able to see what's coming."

The group just glared at him. What was with these zoners and their cryptic messages? Why couldn't they just be straight forward about things? Why couldn't they just outright state what was going on?

Kairos looked back at them. He could see the looks in their eyes. At first, his expression was blank. Then, slowly, he smiled again. This time, the smile stretched a little further and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Everything has a rhyme and a reason. Everyone and everything has a place. And when a crime is committed, everyone pays their dues."

"Crime?! We did nothing wrong!" Rudy cried.

"Yeah! All we did was answer the king's notes! Was that wrong?!" Penny joined in, now on her feet as well. She pointed an accusatory finger at the bird. "If you didn't want us down here, why send the notes at all?!"

The bird zoner chuckled softly at this. "I see you still don't get it. Of course we wanted you to come down here. How else were we going to set all of this up for you?" He raised his wings, motioning them to the side to indicate the area around them. "I must say, you did a spectacular job on this place. It was so large, I didn't think my people would have been able to complete it while you were gone."

"Your people?" Snap inquired. "You're not the king."

"No, I'm not. But I'm still second-in-command. So they are still mine to rule as well." Kairos placed a wing against himself. "Trust me, if I decide to have them destroy you now..." Snap and his friends widened their eyes. "They will do so in a heart beat."

Rudy shut his eyes tightly and ground his teeth. Through them he hissed, "Look...all we are asking is for you to tell us why we were taken here..." He stared at Kairos in the eyes. "Why did the king want us?"

Kairos stared at Rudy for a few seconds. Then he merely shrugged his shoulder. "If you can't figure that out on your own.." He turned himself around and began to walk away. "You really are pathetic."

The trio couldn't believe it. What was with this zoner? Why did he feel the need to constantly taunt them about how they 'should know why they were taken', and yet not flat out say what it was? Was he trying to allude that it was their own fault? That they did something that they should have realized was wrong? If that's the case, then how could they fix anything if he nor the king will tell them?

Snap felt his blood heating up as he watched the bird zoner slowly walk away from them. If the bars weren't electrified, he would be grabbing them right now, threatening to break his own hands as he squeezed them. His body quivered, and soon he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"You sack of metal feathers! Is this how you treat all your prisoners?!"

At this, Kairos froze. Snap took a step back, Rudy and Penny holding onto him lightly. He stared at Kairos, licking his lips somewhat nervously. Had he gone a little too far with that comment? He and his friends eyed the bird zoner warily, and waited.

Kairos turned his head and looked at them. His bronze beak was tucked downward, partially gritted. He remained like this for several moments. His bright orange left eye regarded them coldly. The large, black pupil moved up and down and side to side, as if studying them.

"We are being merciful to you." Kairos's calm voice came. "You should be grateful."

"Merciful?" Snap hissed. "You call being locked up and left alone without telling us what is going on merciful?!"

A quick, cold chuckle. "If you wish, we could have done worse."

"Like what?" Penny asked with great caution.

Kairos raised his head up, his beak giving a soft shine in the little light that was available. "If you thought being trapped was bad... I can have some rather...interesting things for you arranged." He took a small step towards them, scraping the ground with his sharp talons. "I can..." He tilted his head swiftly to one side. It bent at a further angle than they thought it was capable, making him look almost owl-like. "...make you wish..." He raised his right wing up. He aimed his pointed metal fingers in their direction. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "...that your only problem was merely being trapped."

Snap and his friends felt their hearts skip a beat at this. They remain frozen where they stood. None of them dare to say anything, lest they make things worse.

"Those who think being trapped is worse than pain...are wrong. If you three are foolish enough to believe that..." Kairos smiled darkly at them. He tapped two of his metal fingers together, the clang sounding out and making the trio wince. "I can show you just how sadly mistaken you are. I am an expert on pain, and I will be more than happy to show you everything that I know..."

At this, the trio widened their eyes in horror. They gulped nervously and they huddled closer together. They still refused to say anything. They just stared into Kairos's cold yet bright eyes as he watched them. They watched his wings nervously, the sight of the sharp tips making them shiver in fear.

"Real fear is pain. And pain is real fear. Remember that."

Kairos didn't say anything after that. He simply turned and walked away, leaving the frightened trio alone.

sss

"Why do you want the footage, Mr. Yagmur?" The bald man with squarish features and a missing tooth asked. He rubbed his small beared gently, contemplating what had been told to him. "You know that we don't allow mere employees get access to that footage. Only for emergencies and.."

"This is an emergency!" Denny cried, raising his hands in the air. "Someone had...!"

"I suggest you calm yourself. Before I have you thrown out." The man said in a darkened tone.

Denny sighed and lowered his hands. Even though this man wasn't the boss, he was still in charge of the footage room. Libraries didn't usually have this. It was a nice feature, even if it wasn't all that necessary.

But right now, it's the one ticket he had to proving that he wasn't crazy, and proving that there had been a couple of little brats in his office where they shouldn't be. He needed this footage to show to the boss. Even he couldn't argue against it, and he knew what would happen if this footage out, and parents everywhere found out. If parents could rally against something like video games, than they would sure as heck do something about this.

But first, he would need to get past this guy. Ian Drumar was always one tough cookie to crack. He barely budged for anyone, save the boss. And even he sometimes had a hard time getting what he needed from this guy. Ian was very serious about this footage being well taken care of and not falling into the wrong hands or being misused.

Denny thought that he was overdoing it. This was a library, not a national bank. He could learn to let loose a little once in a while, couldn't he?

Well wishful thinking wasn't going to get that footage out. He needed to think of something that would convince Ian to give him what he wanted. Surely the guy couldn't be as dumb as he looked, right? Sure he had a ridiculously short hair-do and his shirt looked a little unprofessional for someone in charge of the security surely, his intelligence would exceed all that, wouldn't it?

"This is important." Denny said, trying again to persuade him. "I need some of that footage so I can prove that some br...er...I mean, children, had wandered into my office."

"I should be worried about this because...?" Ian folded his arms against his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Do you know what'll happen if parents see that footage?" Denny asked, raising his hand in the air. "They will freak out!"

Ian gave a blunt response. "Then don't show them."

Denny stared at Ian wide-eyed. Realizing that he was going in the wrong way with this, he tried a different angle. "What if they find out on their own? What if they somehow stumble upon the footage? Don't you think that their reaction would be worse in that situation?"

But still, Ian didn't budge. He looked at his fingers, looking very disinterested in what he was saying. "Eh...what are the odds of that happening? Do you really think that there's a chance the parents will get a hold of some random footage? You need help if you think that."

Denny gritted his teeth and growled at that insult. He then closed his eyes and forced himself to exhale. "Look...I know how you feel about me..." He paused as Ian turned his head to look at him. His dark brown eyes pierced through his soul even from underneath those square, thick glasses. "But I am looking out for the well being of the children here."

Oh man, it hurt to say that. But he knew full well that the man who sympathized and cared for children was more well liked than one that was bitter and cold towards them.

He would not get far if he admitted the truth. Ian was already unlikely and unwilling to help him. Would he really get that much further with him if he tried to tell Ian that he wanted to take over the company? No. The first thing that man would do was report him to the boss. Then he'd have to contend with the boss himself, and he would lose his job.

Just like how in nature, an individual animal that tries to challenge a leader ends up walking away when defeated, he ran the risk of being driven out of the company if the boss finds out what he's doing. Then he'd never be able to prove anything.

"You and I both know the boss is way too k...I mean...he's too soft with them. He rarely yells at them or punishes them, even when they run around. Don't you think that, one of these days, they will get hurt? And what will the parents say when they find out the boss, the guy running this joint, let it happen? It's not just the boss who will suffer for it. We all will."

Denny stared at Ian. Their eyes remained locked. Ian didn't seem to be budging yet. But Denny wasn't yet finished. He had something else up his sleeve.

"What about you? Do you think another place is going to hire someone like you?" Denny asked.

At this, Ian barely tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Denny gave a thin smile. "You know what I mean, Ian. With your record, you were lucky to have gotten this place. The boss was nice enough to cover for you. But once word gets out...will he keep doing that? Who else would cover for you? This is the only place you got. If something isn't done soon, you are about the lose the only place that ever treated you like a person."

Ian's eyes widened at this. Denny continued to smile. He had gotten him.

"Give me what I want... And I promise I will ensure no one will ever hurt you again."

sss

Rudy grunted as he was yanked forward by the guard. He slipped on his feet and nearly lost his footing. The guard grabbed him roughly on the back of his neck and lifted him up and set him back down. He then barked an order for him to stop slipping up and keep moving. Rudy grumbled softly, but he said not a word.

He felt soreness in his arms. The cuffs that were placed on him were pretty tight. They nearly cut into his skin. He tried to tell them they weren't necessary, but the guards wouldn't listen to him. With his arms secured behind his back, he felt so defenseless. It would be difficult...no...impossible for him to get away like this.

He heard a few grunts. He turned his head slightly, looking back at his friends with one eye. They had been cuffed just like him. He could see the pained look in their eyes, and from that, he could tell that their cuffs were just as tight. Maybe even tighter.

"Keep your eyes forward!" One of the guards snarled at him before yanked him forward.

Rudy let out a surprised cry as he nearly tripped again. He winced as he felt his foot hit against a small rock that was in the way. The guards did not show him any sympathy when he hissed in pain.

"That was your own fault." A second guard told him. "Either pay attention, or we will drag you along the floor if we have to! It's no skin off our nose."

The first guard nodded his head. "Yeah. You should count yourselves lucky the king doesn't want you hurt before your little date in the arena."

Rudy narrowed his eyes. Once again, he kept himself silent. There were a million things running through his head right now that he could say to these zoners. But he resisted the temptation.

He exchanged a quick glance at his friends. He couldn't look at them long enough, but he could feel his heart clench at their faces. They all looked pretty hopeless right now. None of them were willing to give up. But in the moment, there was little they could do. With each step, their hearts filled with more dread. They still had no idea eactly what waited ahead for them. The unknown was eating away at their souls.

But they did now have a small idea of what to expect. Rudy realized that he and Penny had not been working on a baseball kind of thing like he had thought. Instead, it was a colosseum. An arena of some kind. The one thing that he and friends could be certain of is that they had indeed created a form of entertainment for these zoners, with themselves as the entertainment. It just wasn't going to be the type of entertainment that they thought it was going to be.

Rudy had a strong feeling that whatever waited for them at the end of the tunnel wasn't going to be anything good. They were getting closer to the door. He could see the bright light. Unlike other times, the light here was certainly not a good sign.

Rudy was reminded of the time when he went into a colosseum a few months ago. But this time, it wasn't going to be fun and games. It wasn't going to be just a race. No, it was going to be so much worse. He gulped nervously, his blood chilling at the thought of what might happen to him and his friends.

Soon they entered in the center of the arena. Rudy immediately averted his gaze. The light was so bright after being stuck for about an hour in the dark room. He clenched his teeth and hissed, remaining like this for a few seconds before he finally turned his head around to look.

The stadium that he and Penny drew still looked the same. Mostly. There were now new editions, such as purple flags being hung, some of them with a deer symbol on it. The seats were occupied by so many zoners. Humanoids and greek animals and greek monsters everywhere. All eyes were on them, and no zoner spoke or said a word. It was just dead silent as the trio were escorted forward.

Soon, the guards stopped them from walking. They grabbed their shoulders and forced them to stay still. Rudy, Penny, and Snap looked all around as they tried to take in their surroundings. There was something more menacing about this place than before, despite it not being too highly transformed. The air around them was tense and unforgiving, and the strong sense of doom seemed to hover over their heads.

Rudy looked back up at the zoners. He noticed something a little strange about them. It wasn't because they looked unfamiliar. He and his friends just arrived. It would take a while to recognize any one of the normal citizens. But the way they looked at them... It was...off. He couldn't quite put his finger on why.

He wasn't the only one who thought that way. A quick glance down, and he could see that Snap was looking all around. His eye brow was cocked up a little and he looked like he was ready to ask them 'what are you looking at'.

Penny was also looking at the zoners. But unlike him and Snap, she didn't look all that confused. There was a hint of realization in her brown eyes. Rudy and Snap exchanged glances before one of them broke the silence.

"Penny? What is it?" Rudy asked carefully. "What's wrong?"

"Those zoners...they hadn't seen a creator before..."

At this, Rudy and Snap widened their eyes.

"They haven't?" Snap asked, confused. Then it dawned on him quickly. "Yeah...this place has been in isolation for so long. So few of them, if any, would have seen anything like this."

Rudy couldn't believe he didn't realize this before. He took another look at the zoners. Now he could recognize those looks. It was fearful curiosity. The zoners around them were afraid of them, because they were different. At least him and Penny were. They were humans, entirely different from what they were used to. And because they were different, that was why they were still curious about them. They were regarding them with trepidation, and looked like they wanted to figure out more about them.

A quick grunt and snarl from the guards caused the trio to fall silent. They shut their mouths and lowered their head slightly, averting the gaze of the crowd. As much as they wanted to speak, all they could do right now was remain silent and wait.

Rudy glanced up again, looking from side to side. He felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed that not all the zoners were looking at them fearfully or curiously. A handful of them were giving them looks of pure hatred. Rudy could practically hear the venom off of their words even though they didn't even say anything yet.

He looked his friends warily. He could see the look of worry shining in their eyes as well. The way those handful of zoners were looking at them... It was chilling. It was obvious those zoners were angry at them for something, but what? What did he and his friends do to deserve such animosity being projected towards them?

Before he could even try to say anything to his friends, he could hear the familiar clopping footsteps. He gritted his teeth, feeling his blood reaching a boil quickly. He looked up and glared towards where King Zander was walking down the middle of the center aisle. The zoner were bowing their heads as he went.

But the king ignored them completely. His cold, brown eyes were focused only on them. Rudy noticed he had a straight, pressed lip, like he was stuck between a frown and a smile. He looked calm, and almost regal as he walked down the steps slowly, his hands folded behind his back.

The crowd turned their heads to watch the king as he slowly made his way down. No one said a word. It remained utterly silent. But now this silence seemed to take on a new meaning. The air around them seemed to change, and Rudy could feel his heart twisting and aching. He watched, biting his lip, his eyes narrowed, as King Zander went to what appeared to be a tall podium that had been crudely placed on the edge of the stadium.

King Zander tapped on it. There was a ringing feedback, causing zoners and the trio to flinch in pain. This, thankfully, only lasted a short time before it dissipated. The king cleared his throat, and he began to speak into the mic.

"My citizens, you are all gathered here today because I have a very important announcement to make. I have intended on doing this for some time, now. But luck was against me and it had to be delayed. I do regret it. But now, as you all stand in here, as I am standing here, I can finally get started." King Zander's voice sounded booming in the mic. Even zoners in the way back could hear him. "I am sure that you are all aware of what's been going on lately. I'm sure you heard the news and seen the articles. I know that some of you lock doors and windows at night to keep yourselves safe."

Lock their doors and windows? What was happening lately? What was this guy talking about? He had told them earlier that the disappearances were all a lie. Was the king lying to his people? Or was something else going on? Something that the king had chosen to keep a secret from them?

As the king spoke, Rudy and his friends could see the growing fear and anxiety in the zoner's facial expressions. From the look of that, Rudy guessed that there really was something going on here. It just wasn't what King Zander said it was.

"Well I am here to tell you that your troubles, our troubles, will soon be coming to an end. For I have captured the ones responsible for all our suffering!" King Zander pointed at Rudy, Penny, and Snap. "There they are before you!"

Rudy couldn't stop the gasp from escaping his mouth. "Wh-What...?" He squeaked out. No one except his friends heard him. He remained in silent shock with his friends, their eyes bulging as the king continued his rant.

"You all heard the stories! You all heard the legend of the dreaded creators who had reigned down on ChalkZone long ago! You heard about how we had to seal ourselves down here to keep ourselves safe from the intruders! You all know the chaos that the creators on the surface had wrought! Well I am here to tell you that these stories were true! Here, standing before you, are two creators! Two vile creators not even chalk like us! And based on what our little spy has found out, they are the ones responsible for our hardships lately! It was them!"

Rudy hunched his shoulders as he listened to the zoners all around them hiss and growl at them. Almost every set of eyes on them was accompanied by a deep glare and bared teeth. Some of the zoners looked ready to tear them apart, stopped only by the king's will. The king clearly had something in mind for them.

He and his friends huddled together as soon as their cuffs were removed. They did no try to run; the guards were still present. They put their arms around each other and they pressed themselves against one another as they looked around fearfully. Hearts pounded. Minds raced. Breathing quickened. And still the king continued to rant and rave about them, but one thing become obvious.

The king never specified what they did. Never once did he try to tell his people about anything that they had done. Just that they had been the ones to cause problems.

This fact sent Rudy's mind into some doubt. Was it possible that he and his friends really did do something that affected Chalklantis somehow? If that were the case, he felt the sting of guilt in his stomach. He wanted to do something to make it up to them. But how could he do that if no one would tell him exactly what happened?

"I promise you that they will not get away with what they have done!" King Zander yelled in the mic. He had it gripped in his three-fingered hands and had it raised up. "They stand before you as our prisoners! And like all prisoners, they will be punished! They will not get away with what they have done! Now they will answer for their crime!"

At this, the zoners all around them began to cheer. They could hear the zoners call out 'long live the king', 'down with the creators', among other lines. They intermixed together and created an almost thunderous choir. It chilled them to the bone and caused them to huddle ven closer, their bodies starting to shake. They couldn't even try to put up a brave front at this point.

"Now let us begin!" King Zander motioned towards the guards who still stood behind the trio. The guards lifted up their heads and stared back at the king expectantly. "Bring out the first obstacle!"

Immediately, the guards walked away towards another door. This one, Rudy was certain that they hadn't drawn. It must have been added in somehow.

"Let us see how well they fair against the mighty hippalectryon!"

Snap stared up in confusion. "The hippa..what...?"

The trio froze as they heard the sound of something scraping and slowly opening. They could hear something clopping and scraping, the sound of something heavy being shifted forward. They slowly turned themselves around as the cheers and shouts and whistles of the zoners raged on, growing louder.

The second set of tall doors was opened up, spread apart to reveal blackness. They could see shadows moving along the ground. As they continued to watch, they could make out the shapes of the the guards from before. They were holding onto some thick rope, which was wrapped around the neck of what appeared to be an enormous creature. It didn't take long for the creature to come into the light, a foot smashing into the ground to announce its presence.

Rudy's eyes widened as he saw that it was what looked like a griffin, kind of, but no lion part. It was replaced with a horse, and it wasn't in its usual orientation; it was backwards.

The creature had a powerful, thickly muscled horse body, the muscles rippling underneath the skin. The main was cut short and almost in a square-like shape with a sharply pointing curve. The wings were a little small for it, but still large. They were pressed against its body, rope wrapping around it to keep it from flying anywhere.

Its tail feathers, so many of them, were spread out in a threatening manner. Its back feet, scaly and bird-like, kicked and scraped the ground. The talons were massive and looked like they could tear through anything. The creature itself was almost all black save for yellow feet and some dark brown feathers on its wings. Its blazing yellow eyes stared at them, the pupils narrowed into slits. It pulled its lips up, its flat teeth bared aggressively.

Rudy and his friends stared at the beast in horror, their hearts racing in their chests. As the guards began strike the best with electrical staffs to further agitate the creature, they knew they were in serious trouble. They began to back away, but they only got a few feet when the horse bird hybrid was unleashed upon them. As they ran, the crowed cheered on.


	9. Confrontation In The Stadium

Time moved slowly for the ten year old boy. His wide, fear-filled eyes were filled completely with the vision of the massive beast bounding towards him and his friends. He could barely breathe. His lungs felt frozen, unable to move.

Despite his inability to move, his mind was going a million miles per hour. Through these thoughts, he tried to think of a way for them to get out of here. Even without magic chalk, he knew they couldn't just sit here like target ducks. In a few seconds, which were taking longer and longer, they were going to get flattened unless they got out of the way.

Rudy gritted his teeth and he attempted to lift up his leg. At first, it was stiff and rigid. Soon, he was able to lift it up a little. He winced as the muscle felt so stiff and immobile. He took one step to the side. He stopped and took in a quick, deep breath. He turned his head and looked back at the creature. The hippo...whatever the king called it.

He was surprised to see that it was still a good distance away. And he quickly saw why.

The beast had actually stopped for a moment. Its horse-like head swiveled between him and his friends. It regarded them momentarily, as if it was trying to think of they were the ones who attacked it. A sudden spark behind it, likely from one of the guards, was enough to make it neigh viciously and try to attack them.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap reacted as quickly as they could as the beast bounded towards them. Before it could get too close, they jumped to the side. Their bodies hit against the dirt covered ground and they coughed as the dust was kicked up into the air. Behind them, they could hear the clamor of hooves slamming and digging against the ground as the horse rooster hybrid attempted to stomp them to death.

The creature, the...hippalectryon, that's it, was still staring at the ground where they stood, as if it was having a hard time realizing that they weren't there. It lifted up its head and stared back at them. Its ears lowered and it curled back its lips into a snarl, showing off its flat yet sharp-looking teeth. With another neigh, mixed in with a growly sound, it charged towards them.

The hippalectryon came after them again. It opened up its wings, and to Rudy's horror, he realized this made it go even faster. He took a few steps back as the beast closed in on him. He jumped to the side as it snapped at him. Then it whipped itself around and went after Snap. The small blue and white zoner barely made it out of the way as it attempted to slam its hooves against his head.

"Get them!"

"Crush them!"

"I want to see some body parts!"

Rudy felt a cold chill run up his spine as he listened to the zoners around them cheer for their demise. Almost every zoner had chanted something, and many were still crying out, their fists raised up, their voices becoming intermingled together in some sort of terrifying choir.

He tried his best to ignore the crowd. He tried to focus his attention on the hippalectryon. He couldn't afford to divert any attention away from it. The horse bird beast was now pacing around them, eyeing them up and down. It looked almost like a predator. Despite being possibly a herbivore, he knew he and his friends were still in trouble.

They needed a plan on how to beat this thing. Otherwise, they were just going to keep running until they ran out of strength. It was obvious that this beast had tons of energy pent up inside. They would be tired and out of breath long before the hippalectryon even started to pant out of exhaustion. There had to be a way to slow this creature down somehow...

Rudy looked to his left and found what looked to be some kind of stick. An idea flashed int he back of his head. He looked from the beast to the stick and, licking his lips, he bolted for it.

"Rudy! What are you doing?!" Penny cried in horror.

"Bucko!" Snap's panicked voice came. "Look out!"

Rudy didn't bother looking behind him. He didn't need to look to know that the hippalectryon was coming towards him. He could hear the heavy footsteps behind him. He could hear the crowd's cheers increasing in volume as it got closer. He tried to focus on the stick ahead of him. He was almost there. Just a bit more time...

Bending himself down, he grabbed the stick and continued to run forward. He was running out of space to run at this point. He had to do this quickly.

Skidding his feet on the ground, he turned himself so that he was facing the horse bird creature. It let out another dark neigh, sending chills through his body. He narrowed his eyes in determination and held the stick in front of him.

"Oh look! He's going to defend himself with a stick! How pathetic!"

"I thought creators were supposed to be smart! Is he, like, some kind of reject or something?"

Rudy ignored the harsh words spoken by the deranged zoners as he focused his attention on the hippalectryon. The creature was gaining on him, the space between them rapidly shrinking. Rudy waited until it got close enough, keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground. He could see the creature opening its mouth to prepare to bite him. Tightening his muscles, he pulled his arm back and waited. When the beast was a foot in front of him and started to lunge its head towards him with its jaws split wide open, Rudy made his move.

With a single, swift thrust, he placed the entire stick in the creature's mouth. He jumped back as the horse rooster creature ran a little ways forward before it stopped and realized what happened.

Its eyes were wide and pupils shrunk. It shook its head from side to side, letting out growls of frustration. It tried opening its mouth wider, but it they could not stretch any further. It tried to bite down, but the stick would not bend. It lowered its head and tried to kick it out with a foot. But for the moment, it was stuck.

Rudy watched it for a few seconds. He knew it wasn't going to hold the creature for long. He turned his head towards his friends and rushed to them.

"Are you okay, Rudy?" Snap asked when Rudy got close enough. His worry-filled white eyes regarded him intently. "That nasty old creature didn't hurt you, did it?"

Rudy looked at himself, patting his hands around in search of unnoticed injuries. "No, I'm fine."

"Rudy, that was really risky!" Penny said. She looked at Rudy with concern, her hands clasped together. "We need to..." She began.

"Think of a plan yeah. Why do you think I did that? To buy us some time." Rudy looked behind him. He could see the hippalectryon was still furiously trying to get the stick out of its mouth. It wouldn't be long before it succeeded or it would just come after them anyway. He turned back to his friends. "Do any of you have any ideas?"

Penny and Snap looked at each other. They frowned a little, trying to think of a solution. They looked away. Penny rubbed her chin while Snap looked at the ground, kicking the dirt a little with his foot. This lasted for a while, and at first, it looked as if neither of them had any ideas.

Rudy's attention was mostly on Penny. She was the one who usually came up with the best plans. Surely she would be able to think of a way they could get out of this mess. He looked back at the hippalectryon to make sure it was still preoccupied, then he turned back to Penny and waited, hoping that she would be able to think of something in time.

She didn't.

A loud snap. A crack. A neigh. And all three of them knew one thing in that very moment.

They had run out of time.

"Go get them! Tear them apart!"

Rudy, Penny, and Snap turned their frightened, widened eyes towards the horse rooster hybrid as it barrelled towards them swiftly, its mouth wide open. This time, it took to the air, launching itself upwards and somehow staying aloft despite its wings being a bit too small. The three children huddled close together and watched as the beast circled around them, beating its wings occasionally to keep itself from lowering back down.

Then it stayed in place, hovering above them, its body becoming partially vertical. It stared down at them hungrily, baring its teeth, tilting its head to one side as if just curious. The trio could barely take their eyes away from the creature. Their eyes were glued to its, and it felt like the world's most dangerous staring contest in that moment.

It didn't last for long. With a loud neigh, rearings its front legs in front of it, the hippalectryon dove down towards them, flatting its wings behind it to help it be more aerodynamic.

The three children let out screams of terror. They dove down to the ground as the hippalectryon grazed above them, barely missing them as it rushed passed them. Rudy could feel a rush of air move by them, wipping up his hair in the process. He dared to look up, and he stiffened in fear when the hippalectryon was diving down to try again. And it was heading straight or him. Rudy tried to get up quickly, but his arms and legs were too shaky. Knowing he wasn't going to get out of the way in time, Rudy watched the beast in fear and waited for it to collide with him in the two seconds it would take to arrive.

He felt something thick and heavy hit against him. He let out a cry as he was pushed into the ground. He laid there, waiting for the second attack, only to realize that it hadn't been the hippalectryon who had pushed him down.

It had been Penny.

"Buckette!"

Rudy's heart froze as that cry, which was intermingled with a feminine scream. Balancing himself up on his hands, he swiveled his head and his eyes were greeted with a horrific sight.

Penny had taken the brunt of the attack. She was covered in a bit of dirt and there were a couple tears in her clothes. She was laying on her back, her head lolled to one side. Rudy and Snap thought she was unconscious at first, but when she lifted up her head, they let out a sigh of relief.

This relief was short-lived when the hippalectryon grabbed her by her leg and lifted her up off the ground. Penny soon dangled there, struggling and writhing to get away. The hippalectryon reared up onto its hind legs and spread its wings.

"Drop her from a great height!"

"Let the fall destroy her!"

"No mercy!"

"Stop the creator!"

"Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!"

The 'doom' chant continued. More and more of the Chalklantian zoners joined in. They formed fists either their hands and shook them up and down in a steady rhythm as the chanting continued. It rose in volume and practically become a deafening roar.

Rudy tried his best to pay it no mind as he stared up at Penny. He took in a few quick breaths, his eyes unable to turn away from what was going on. He and Snap rushed over as quickly as they could. But before they could reach, the beast had already taken flight.

"No!" Rudy shouted. He jumped over, trying to grab a hold of the beast. He wasn't quick enough. His face met the ground in a rather dusty union. He coughed, spitting out the dirt. He took in a shaky breath and looked up. His eyes widened. "Penny!"

He was helpless to do anything as he watched the hippalectryon rise higher into the air. Soon it was too high for him to reach. The beast didn't attempt to leave the colosseum, instead remaining content to fly around in circles, holding Penny in its jaws.

Penny had been trying to fight back, but upon seeing how high up she was, she remained frozen in terror. Any attempt to get down from this height would result in her getting badly injured, and that was a best case scenario.

Rudy felt his heart beating quickly as he watched the creature fly around and around, picking up speed as it went. It rose a little higher up with each lap that it made. Rudy wasn't sure what it was trying to do except make Penny dizzy. But he knew that the beast's intentions weren't anything that mundane. No, it had some sort of plan. But what was it...

Oh no... Rudy's eyes widened and his heart stopped when he realized what the creature was intending.

It was going to slam Penny into the ground from a great height.

His fears were confirmed as the beast contorted its body, going straight up, Penny still held tightly in its jaws. It arched its back, looking straight down. Without hesitation, it made a dive.

"No! Stop!" Rudy rushed forward, waving his arms around. "Stop that! Please!"

But to no one's surprise, the hippalectryon ignored him. Whether or not it was from disinterest or lack of understanding didn't matter. All Rudy could do was watch as Penny was being driven towards the ground. The girl let out a scream and struggled frantically to escape what could possibly be a fatal dive.

The cheers all around him grew more intense. The zoners were getting more and more excited as the hippalectryon was fast approaching the ground. Rudy felt sick to his stomach. These sickening zoners... How could they get excited over such a barbaric act?

His thoughts were ripped away from that when he heard a familiar cry from high above.

"Leave her alone, you mismatched piece of feather garbage!"

Rudy stared up in shock. He couldn't believe it. "S-Snap...?!"

He didn't know when it happened. He didn't even see the zoner's actions earlier. He didn't know how he was able to pull this off without him seeing him. Bu there he was, in plain sight.

Somehow, Snap had managed to grab onto the beast. By his feet or by his tail feathers, Rudy was certain. He had climbed along the beast's back, somehow managing to hang on even while the beast circled swiftly around. Somehow, he managed to fight back dizziness as he continued to hold onto the creature.

At this point, Snap was now straddling the horse-like neck of the beast, his hands gripping its short mane hair. He climbed further up, pressing his legs tightly against the thick neck as the beast swung its head from one side to the other in an attempt to shake him off. Rudy felt his heart skip a beat when Snap let out a yelp and nearly slipped off.

Incredibly, not only did Snap still manage to hang on, but now he was right behind the horse-like head. He grabbed onto the beast's ears and he started to yank back.

"I said let her go!" Snap snarled. His eyes shut and his teeth clenched tightly. "Let go, you big fleabag!"

The hippalectryon didn't stop. It continued to dive down. The cheers of the zoners echoed all around as Rudy watched in horror. At first, it seemed as if the hippalectryon was going to complete its attack and crush Penny between itself and the ground.

But then Snap pulled the ears back further, and its dive started to falter a little. The hippalectryon tried again to wriggle its head out of the zoner's grasp. It had no such luck. Snap's grip was just too tight. Then, seconds later, Snap opened his mouth wide and he bit down on the hippalectryon's ear.

The hippalectryon's eyes bulged at this. It struggled not to scream. It struggled to keep its dive in place. But as Snap ground his teeth deeper into the ear, it soon couldn't take anymore. When it was just a few feet above the ground, it suddenly pulled itself up. It couldn't hold back its cry anymore and released Penny. It shrieked along with Penny as the girl plummeted towards the ground.

"Penny!" Rudy rushed forward as quickly as he could. He tightened up his leg muscles and jumped forward, his arms out stretched. Penny collided with him and the two rolled across the floor. After coughing from more dust getting into his throat, Rudy checked Penny to make sure she was okay. "Are you all right?"

Penny let a few coughs before she answered. "Y-Yeah...I think so..." She wiped her brow and gave a shiver from adrenaline rushing through her body. "Wh-Where's...?" Her eyes widened in horror as she looked upwards. "Snap!"

Rudy looked up to see what Penny saw. He let out a gasp, shooting instantly up to his feet. "Snap, no!"

The hippalectryon now held Snap in its jaws. The zoner was writhing and squirming to get free. He was pushing against the mouth as he tried to crawl out. The hippalectryon bit down harder, prompting Snap to let out a cry of pain. The beast then lifted up its head, pointing its snout upwards. Rudy and Penny were confused for a second. Then they realized in horror what it was trying to do.

It was trying to swallow Snap whole. Alive.

Rudy shook his head, his mind racing. Oh if only he had a piece of magic chalk right now... The beast was too high up for them to grab. He couldn't rush over and force it to let go. Even if he could get into physical contact with it, how was he going to make the beast let go of Snap without resulting in something terrible happening to his friend in the process?

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of movement. He looked over and saw that Penny was rushing in one direction. His eyes widened. "Penny? What are you doing?"

Penny didn't answer him. She continued to run further away from where Snap was being held. Rudy couldn't tell what was going on. He reached his hand out towards Penny and was about to call to her again when he noticed she had finally stopped. Now she was lowering herself closer to the ground, searching around for something.

"Penny?"

Once again, he was ignored. He felt a pang of frustration in his stomach. Why couldn't Penny answer him? Instead of trying again, he started to rush towards her. He needed her help to save Snap, and here she was, playing with...

Wait, no she wasn't. How could he begin to think that? He felt terrible that he did, especially after he saw what she was really doing.

In a few seconds, Penny was back on her feet, holding a broken piece of the stick from before. The end had broken off into a sharp tip. Rudy felt his heart skip a beat as Penny held up the piece of stick in her hand. Was...was she intended on using this thing as a weapon...? Was that sharp end going to...?

To Rudy's surprise, Penny grabbed a hold of the sharpened end and she broke it off. With some effort, she managed to rip it away and dropped the piece. This left a blunter-looking end. Instead of a single sharp point, there were multiple jagged edges. The splintered wood was bent to the side and didn't look like it could cut anything.

But...why had Penny done this? What use was this to them now? Not that he would have wanted to hurt the creature, but how were they going to defend themselves with a broken stick?

"Rudy!" Penny called out to him. "Catch!"

Rudy had only seconds to react when the stick was tossed his way. He fumbled with it as he struggled to grab it. Soon he held it in the wraps of his fingers. He stared at it in confusion before turning back to Penny.

"Penny...what is..." Rudy started to say.

"Just do what I say!" Penny called out. "There isn't much time!"

Rudy wasn't sure what Penny had in mind. Nonetheless, he still listened to her. He turned his attention to the hippalectryon, raising the stick up slightly. His eyes widened slowly as he watched Snap continue to squirm in the beast's mouth, struggling not to fall down further into the beast's mouth. His mind flashed back to when Snap and Penny were swallowed by the goolah monster. He was not going to have a repeat of that happen.

"Don't worry, Snap! I'm coming!" Rudy called out to his friend. He wasn't sure if Snap could hear him over his screams or over the cheers of the crowd. But he meant every word.

"Rudy! Run now! And strike exactly where I say!"

Rudy didn't hesitate to run towards the beast.

sss

Pain. Horrible intense pain.

That's what Snap was feeling right now. He was hardly aware of his own screaming. Only the shere agony that he was in right now. He could feel the teeth pressing against his body. He could feel the beast tightening its grip around him. He continued to struggle, kicking his legs wildly in the air, trying to hit the beast. But none of his attempts were met with success.

His mind swirled with thoughts as he felt the warm wetness of the animals mouth, feeling himself start to slide further down. The horrible stench of its breath hardly did anything to him as he concentrated on survival. At the moment, he still had a hold of the animal's mouth corners, but he was rapidly losing his grip. Part of his body was already down the creature's throat. The beast apparently could hold its breath for a long time because it was doing nothing to speed up the process. Just letting gravity do its work.

Snap wasn't sure how long he could stay like this. He struggled to pull himself out. But his grip was too slippery, and the beast was using its slimy tongue to try to make him let go. The teeth pressed further down, threatening to slide into his arms and hands. However, the threat of losing his arms was preferable to being slowly digested alive, so he hung on despite the risk.

He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Why did he think jumping on the creature's back and biting its ears was a good idea? He should have known that something like this was going to happen. He felt like an idiot.

The only good thing that came out of this was that at least Penny was safe. His efforts had saved her from being nearly crushed to death by this creature.

He wasn't sure where Penny was right now, or what she and Rudy were doing. He thought he could hear their cries to them, but he was too busy focused on trying to pull himself out, his head echoing with his screams, to really notice for sure. Whatever they were doing, he hoped that it involved finding a way to stop this creature before it made him its lunch.

As he continued to slide down further, he could feel a few tears start to form in his eyes. This could be it. This might be his last few moments alive. Recalling something he did earlier that he wasn't proud of, he knew that now was the best time to say it. Even though he wasn't sure if Penny could hear it, she deserved to know.

"Penny! I have something to tell you! I'm sorry that I..."

Without warning, the beast's head suddenly jerked to one side. Its mouth opened up a little wider, allowing Snap to pull himself forward. He winced at the teeth scraping against him. There was another thunk and the head was tossed further to the same side, this one with more force.

Snap found himself being launched from the mouth. He let out a cry as he dove head first into the ground. He hit against something soft along the way. He skidded along the ground before finally coming to a stop. He rubbed his head and let out a soft groan.

"Whoa...what happened..?" Snap asked. He slowly climbed up to his feet. Something felt off about the ground. He quickly found out why.

"Well for starters, you are standing on my head." Penny's muffled voice said.

Snap looked down. "Penny...? Well no wonder the ground felt so...eggy." He said with a smile.

Penny growled at him. "Just get off me!"

Snap obligued, jumping off of her. He reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her up from the ground. Penny brushed herself off, getting as much dust off of her as possible. Soon she stopped and looked down at him expectantly.

"Now...what was it you were saying before?" Penny asked him. "Something you wanted to apologize for?"

Snap let out a nervous chuckle, folding his arms behind his back and kicking his feet against the dirt. "What? I-I didn't say anything."

"Snap.." Penny narrowed her eyes at him. Snap just grinned at her. Penny continued to glare at him.

Neither of them had a chance to take this any further. There was a loud thud behind them, reminding them both of the danger that they were still in. They turned their heads and looked over their shoulders. Their eyes bulged at what they saw.

"Rudy!"

The stick that Rudy had used to hit the creature in a certain spot on its head had been shattered. The huge talons of the creature's back feet had smashed it into several splittered pieces of wood. From the way it was angled, it looked as if Rudy were trying to attack it again to keep it at bay. But as Penny and Snap could both see, this did not end too well for Rudy.

Rudy was now on his back, a massive hoof pressed against his chest. He was trying to push it off, his feet kicking, scraping the dusty ground. None of his efforts prevailed. His head turned to the side was the hippalectryon's head was lowered. Its hot, steamy breath hit against the boy's face, causing his hair to fly to the side a little. The white, shiny teeth were bared and it looked as if the creature was about to bite Rudy's head off.

"Bucko!" Snap called out in horror. He tried to rush forward, but he felt someone grab him by his arm. He glared over at Penny. "Let me go! What's the big deal?! He needs our help!"

"I know, but we need to plan this out." Penny warned him. "Or do you want to end up in the creature's mouth again?"

Snap's eyes widened at this. He only took in a few breaths before he shook his head slowly.

"Good. Now...let's think about this." Penny rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "What can we use to stop this thing?"

"Well we don't have a lot of time..." Snap said, gritting his teeth nervously. "I sure hope you have a plan, Buckette..."

Snap could feel his heart speeding up as he watched the hippalectryon continue to menace his creator and friend. Rudy was struggling to breathe at this point. The creature was pressing down further onto his chest, interfering with intakes of breath. Snap could feel his body shaking. If Penny didn't think of something soon...

"He is about to fall!"

"Take it with dignity, creator!"

"It's the least you can do!"

Snap ground his teeth together. These zoners... Have they no shame? Did they not realize what they were doing?

As the few seconds passed, and he heard more and more of these horrible statements from these zoners, it was becoming harder and harder for him to remain quiet. He tried to fight it back, knowing that saying anything to them wasn't going to do them much good. But...those words...they were heating up his blood too fast. He..he couldn't hold back any longer.

Snap whirled himself around, facing one portion of the crowd. Inhaling a deep breath, he let out a loud shout. "Shut up!"

Snap was not at all surprised when his shout hardly did anything. Sure the crowd did go silent, but it was for, what, maybe two seconds at best. Three at tops. Then the crowd started to jeer at him, throwing insults and mockery. Snap felt his blood boil, forming shaking fists with his hands. He was about to say something else when his rational part of his brain took over. No..they weren't worth it.

Turning his attention to Penny, he noticed that she was still trying to think of something. This made him bite his lip as he turned over to where Rudy was. The boy didn't have that much time. They had to do something fast or...

That was when Snap took notice of a bucket of water nearby. He didn't know what it was for. Perhaps for any zoner in the stadium who happened to want a drink.

Well whatever the purpose, it was positioned in the perfect spot: right over the hippalectryon.

Would it work? There was no way to know, and there was no time to sit and think about it. He rushed over to Penny and grabbed her by the arm. He pulled on it and had her look in the direction of the water bucket.

"Will it work?" Snap asked.

"It's a long shot. But we can try." Penny looked around. Soon her eyes focused on something. "There seems to be something there holding it up. If you stand on my shoulders and try to reach it..."

Snap didn't need to hear any further. "Come on then!" He rushed towards where Penny indicated. "Let's go!"

sss

Rudy's eyes were bulged wide open. His mouth was opened as far as it could go. He struggled to take in a breath. He hardly got any air in. His mind raced and he felt himself panicking.

In addition to this, he felt a massive weight on his chest, combined with the feeling of it being set on fire. As seconds past, it got harder and harder as the beast applied more pressure. Each breath became harder to take, and he realized he was going to pass out soon if he didn't get some oxygen inside of him.

He realized that his friends might not be able to save him in time. They couldn't move this heavy creature, and if they got too close, the creature might try to quicken his demise. The realization that his life could be over now struck him, stinging his chest and making him feel sick.

He was vaguely aware of the zoners cheering the beast on, telling it to finish the job. He couldn't hear the exact sentences being used, but words like 'destroy' and 'doom' pretty much told him everything he needed to know about the zoners' mindset. A part of him wanted to be offended and pissed off at what they were doing, but he was too focused on just trying to survive the next few minutes.

He started to have flashes of his life before his eyes. He could see so many events move in front of his mind. Past adventures and experiences, both positive and negative, danced before him. Realizing that his life story could conclude here, Rudy shut his eyes and let out a single tear.

Suddenly, he heard a crash of something metal, and the hippalectryon reared onto its rooster-like hind feet. Rudy took quick notice of a bucket on the creature's head and the feeling of water splashing down onto him. But he didn't care to watch any further when breath suddenly entered his lungs again. A sweep of relief rushed through him as he laid there, his arms stretched at his sides, breathing in and out quickly.

Soon, he felt someone grab onto his hands and pull him up. He leaned his head forward. He coughed and wheezed a few times, his hand against his chest and feeling his heart pounding. It took several seconds before his mind began to register who was next to him.

"G-G-Guys...?" He spluttered. "What...What happened...?"

"Rudy, take it easy." Penny whispered softly to him.

"Yeah, that creature really knocked the wind out of you." Snap said sympathetically.

Rudy continued to breathe heavily. It only took him a second to realize that, no matter what condition he was in, he couldn't lay down here for long. The hippalectryon might come after them.

He started to climb up to his feet. His friends, though worried, didn't attempt to stop him. They rose up with him, holding onto him so he had support. Rudy managed to get up to his feet. He felt a rush of dizziness and he staggered. He soon managed to stop himself and he balanced on his two wobbly feet.

The zoners in the crowd weren't happy about this. They immediately jeered and booed at them and tried to entice the creature to strike again. As tempting as it was for Rudy to shoot a glare at them, his mind was more focused on the present danger they were in. He looked around, trying to find the horse rooster hybrid, wondering what it was going to do next.

The hippalectryon still had the bucket on its head. It was running around in circles, kicking up dirt and dust. It tried to open up its wings, but the fact that it couldn't see anything panicked it into staying on the ground. Instead it just ran, galloping and neighing in terror.

Seeing it like this made Rudy's heart twist. Despite the fact that this thing nearly killed him, a part of him couldn't bear seeing it so confused and frightened. He began to walk over towards it slowly and cautiously.

"Rudy? No! What are you doing?" Snap called out to him. "It's going to...!"

Rudy ignored the calls of his friends as he moved towards the beast. He took his time with each step, careful not to make too loud of a sound or be too noisy. He licked his lips nervously, feeling his heart pound. He knew what he was doing was incredibly risky and dangerous. Still, he was compelled to try to help this creature, who might very well be starting to suffocate with that bucket stuck to its head.

He reached out with his hand. He paused, curling his fingers. He hestitated for a moment. Then he reached out and grabbed onto the bucket with his hands. He swiftly yanked it off, releasing the creature's head.

Almost immediately, the hippalectryon froze. It stared down at him, its ears swiveling, its head tilting. Rudy watched it, locking his eyes on its own. He dropped the bucket, letting it roll to the side, and held up his hands as a way to show the creature that he wasn't trying to harm it.

"Rudy! Run!" Penny hissed.

But Rudy remained where he was. "I'm not going to hurt you..." He said to the hippalectryon gently. "It's all right..."

The hippalectryon raised its head up, rocking it even further, regarding him almost like a curious bird would. It took a slow step towards him, leaning forward. Its teeth were still bared, but only partially now. Somehow, it didn't look nearly as threatening. He held his breath as he reached out towards it to try to pet it.

Without warning, there was a loud sparkle of electricity that rammed into the hippalectryon. The beast let out a loud neigh, its wings stretching out from the shock. Rudy's eyes widened in horror at this.

"What are you doing?!" One of the guards snarled. "You are supposed to get rid of him! Not make friends with him!"

"You lousy piece of sh..." Another guard yelled before he was cut off short. With a swing of its head, the hippalectryon struck against the guard, knocking him back.

The hippalectryon swing its legs in the air, its tail feathers ruffling menacingly. Rudy realized what was going on. The hippalectryon finally got it in its head that he and his friends weren't the ones who hurt it. It had been these guards, and now it was going to teach them a lesson.

He quickly realized something. With the guards busy, he and his friends had a shot to get out of here. He turned his attention to Penny and Snap, rushing towards them quickly.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!"

They turned their eyes towards the doors that led to the outside. With the guards busy and all the zoners too high up to get to them, Rudy, Penny, and Snap began to make a bee line towards the door.

They ran as fast as they could. Rudy could hear their hearts pounding. He could hear their heavy breathing. His own intermingled with them, pounding in his head. He opened his mouth, his tongue hanging out. He and his friends were getting closer to the doors. They just needed to go a little further... Just a little longer... Almost there...

Then they got a reminder that not all the Chalklantian zoners here were bound to the ground.

Two shadows hovered over them for a few seconds before they suddenly came crashing down. Rudy and his friends jumped back to avoid getting hit. They glared at the humanoid pegasi zoners in front of them, their wings outstretched to block their path.

"Not so fast..." One of the pegasi said.

"You're not going anywhere..." The other said, his voice deeper and more threatening.

Rudy gritted his teeth. "Let me and my friends go. We haven't done anything wrong!"

One of the pegasi let out a cold laugh. "If you think we're letting you monsters get away with this, you..."

"Enough!"

All eyes turned to King Zander. He was still standing on the podium. His dark brown eyes glared down at them, his lip curled partially upward. He regarded the two pegasi zoners with a level of disappointment.

"You two, back to the stadium. Now." King Zander ordered. The two anthro pegasi didn't bother questioning his order. They quickly left, as if fearful of what the king might do to them if they dare try to go against his wishes. King Zander watched them icily as they returned to their seats. Then he turned his head back down towards Rudy and his friends. "As for you three..." He growled.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap suddenly found themselves surrounded by a few guards. They huddled close together, glaring at them angrily. A quick look to their side allowed them to see what happened to the hippalectryon. It was laying on the ground, its body twtiching with a few sparks of electricity coming off of it. Two guards were standing over it, glaring at it. They quickly pieced together what had happened. Their minds boiled in anger when they saw this.

"Take them back to their cage." The king ordered. "I will let them have a...break."

Rudy, Penny, and Snap shouted in protest as the guards lifted them up off the ground, pinning their arms at their sides. They were carried, with little gentle effort made, back towards the room where they had been held. Showing no amount of remorse, the guards thrust them back into the cage as hard as they could and locked them up inside.

The trio glared as they watched the guards walk away, leaving them alone. Their bodies were still shaking in anger, and they were so tempted to say something to the guards as they left. But they remained silent, and their burning anger soon turned to chilled fear. They slumped down to the ground and looked at one another. Their best attempt for escape had passed them by. Now what were they going to do?


	10. Contemplations And Planning

The sound of water dripping from the ceiling was a bit louder, considering the walls that surrounded it. Each drop felt like it was getting louder and louder, and it was becoming harder to ignore. It grated on the ears, and increased levels of agitation.

Not that this was of any surprise to anyone. This place wasn't meant to be welcoming. It was not a place of virtue. It was a cell. A place that was nothing more than a holding chamber for those trapped inside. A place where hope went to die, and where the only thing to look forward to was another 'game'.

But not for Rudy. Despite everything that was going on, he refused to give up. He refused to believe that there was no way out. They might be trapped in here for now. But at some point, they will escape. He just knew they would.

The question was how. At the moment, there didn't seem to be any way out. The sparkling bars all around them prevented them from going too far towards the edges of the cage. They were stuck around the center, huddled together. He and his friends couldn't try escaping throug there unless they wanted to get electrocuted. And without magic chalk, going down was not an option either. There was no way to break through the ground quickly.

But..there was a way out of here, right? There was always a way to escape. He remembered how hopeless he felt in past situations, like with the balloonemia case. He had never fully given up hope, and in the end, he was rewarded for it.

He had to do the same thing here. He had to stay positive and focus on thinking on a way out, not waste time feeling upset that he was trapped at all.

He looked over at his friends. They had remained quiet not too long after being tossed in. Other than looking a little bruised and scraped, they were fine. They were all lucky, considering what that hippalectryon nearly did to them. It could have been so much worse.

Rudy's mind stung a little as he thought of that beast. As afraid of it as he was, he did hope that the creature was fine. It seemed as if it finally realized that he and his friends were safe and weren't the ones who hurt it. The guards realized this, too. Rudy narrowed his eyes at the thought of them. They had attacked the hippalectryon for no good reason, and knocked it out. Rudy could only hope that they didn't do too much damage.

He wished there was a way for him to help the creature. But for the moment, he needed to focus on helping his friends first. They were of no use to anyone trapped in here.

"Have you guys thought of something?"

Rudy didn't think his friends would be able to think of anything. They had been trapped in here for a while, all thinking hard on escape, and his friends still hadn't said anything. Chances are, they didn't have anything in mind. But there was no hurt in asking, was there?

Snap shook his head. "I'm sorry, Bucko. But we've got nothin'."

"Yeah, Rudy. We're in quite a situation. Trapped in an electrified cage with no magic chalk." Penny said sadly. "I'm not sure how we're going to get out of here."

Rudy narrowed his eyes softly. While he expected such answers, it was still disappointing to him. "Oh come on. There has to be some way out of here!" Rudy raised his arms into the air. "We've got out of tough situations before!"

"Yeah, but Rudy, in those situations, we either weren't trapped or we had magic chalk. Here, we have neither." Penny pointed out.

"Are you saying we should give up?" Rudy cast her a soft glare.

Penny shook her head rapidly. "No, of course not, Rudy! I'm just saying that we are going to have a harder time getting out of this. Without at least being free, we stand little chance."

Snap nodded his head in agreement. "Penny's right, Rudy. You might be the Great Creator, but when you're trapped like a dog without the magic chalk, all the artistist skill in the world isn't going to help much."

Rudy tried to reply, but for the moment, he wasn't sure what to say. He let out a defeated sigh and slumped back into the ground. He pressed his legs against his body and pulled them to his chest. He rested his head on his knees and looked towards the ground, his eyes halfway closing.

His friends hadn't really given up, despite what they were saying. He could see the expression in their eyes. They were desperate for an escape as well. They wanted to keep thinking of a way out. It was just...right now they were stumped. Just like he was. How were they going to get out of here if they didn't even have access to a single piece of chalk? This was going to be a lot harder than anything else he had experienced.

They had all tried their beast to cheer each other up. They had all tried to remain as positive as they could. They tried to keep thesmelves hopeful and they would keep trying to think of a way to get out. They weren't going to give themselves in and allow these zoners to win. If they surrendered, if they allowed themselves to cave into these zoners... What kind of protectors would they be?

They would think of something, somehow. He just...didn't know how they were going to do it. They never had been trapped in an unknown land before. This place, they knew so little about it. They didn't know where anything was in Chalklantis. Even if they did somehow escape...how long would they last? He knew full well it wouldn't take all that long for a citizen to find them and take them back to King Zander.

Then what was he going to do to them then? So far, King Zander was surprisingly nice. At least compared to how he could be. He even was letting them all stay in the same cage together instead of forcibly separating them. But if they tried to escape, would that piss him off? Would that inspire him to do worse to them?

If they got out, somehow, Rudy knew that they had to make it count. One incorrect move was all it would take for all that effort to go down the drain. They needed to say hidden. But in order to do that, they needed someone who was an expert, or at least a novice, on this place's layout.

But..where would they find such a zoner? And would they even be willing to help them?

Rudy remembered King Zander's speech all too well. Those horrible words still echoed in his mind. He bit his lip, trying to drive out as much of the anger from his head as he could. But he wasn't able to stop his head from heating up, and he could feel his body shaking.

"Bucko...?"

Rudy looked over at Snap, noticing his and Penny's worried expressions. Rudy gave them a small, faint smile, and then quickly looked away.

He couldn't believe what kind of conniving person that King Zander turned out to be. When they had arrived, they thought he was some kind of regal king who knew exactly how to behave and act like a proper king. The fact that he is manipulating his own people, and getting them to believe that he and his friends were the cause of their trouble, whatever trouble that may be, sickened him.

It was possible that King Zander really did think they were responsible, and he was just as paranoid as the others. That still didn't make his actions right. The king should not have encouraged and wind up his citizens like that.

And if he was lying... That would be just as bad. Rudy could feel his stomach twist at the thought of King Zander doing all of this on purpose to fulfill some kind of hidden agenda.

But he and his friends had no proof either way. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't do it anyway. They did not want to be like King Zander. They weren't going to spread false rumors about him just to get back at him. That would not be right. They would find another way to bring the king to justice. One that would involve honesty, not lies and deceit like the king might be using.

"I wonder how many spies he has..." Penny said softly, breaking the silence. Rudy and Snap stared over at her. "He mentioned one on the surface." She continued, not bothering to look at them. "But he never really said if that was his only spy. What if he has more? What if they are all just laying in wait in case we escape?"

Rudy furrowed his eyes in concern at this. He looked over at Snap and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"That is indeed a problem. I hadn't thought of that. I do agree that it is possible that King Zander lied about how many spies he has." Rudy said, nodding his head lowly. "I had been worried about running into disgruntled citizens if we tried to leave. But..spies would be so much worse."

"Yeah." Snap raised his rounded hand. "The zoners here know their way around. But we don't. It would be harder for us to find our way back to the submarine to make our escape."

"And that's if it's even there." Rudy said solemnly, another thought entering his mind. "They might have moved it somewhere, or have it guarded. If we go there, we might get caught again."

Penny was silent for a few moments. Then she shifted herself around to look over at her friends. Rudy and Snap flinched at her expression. They had never seen her look so defeated before. They wanted to say something to cheer her up. But nothing would come to their minds. Slowly, she tilted her head upwards a little, a contemplative look in her eyes.

"And we don't have our allies here." She spoke softly, her eyes widening slightly. "We are all alone here."

Rudy and Snap looked at each other nervously at this. They knew right away that Penny was right. They were trapped many miles in the water, far away from the main land where they came from. They had no zoner allies anywhere near this place. Even if they could somehow contact one of their friends, they wouldn't be able to get here thanks to the Chalklantians' defense system. The Chalklantians appeared to have some sense of xenophobia, considering their extreme method in dealing with outsiders. They had nearly shot them earlier and no doubt, they would have been destroyed. Years of being in isolation had left them feeling quite paranoid.

"He was smart to bring us down here. He was smart to separate us from the others." Penny added.

This could not be argued against. King Zander had already proven himself to be quite smart when he was able to trick them so easily, and trap them before they could do anything. He had even thought to take their magic chalk away so that they were defenseless.

It made Rudy wonder just how long King Zander had been planning this. Some of this seemed a little too perfect. It was as if he had been plotting for many years, like, ever since he had first come into ChalkZone in the first place.

That thought made him freeze. Had the king really been plotting to get rid of him since he was eight years old? If that's the case, then the king was really paranoid. Rudy didn't even know about Chalklantis at the time. What did the king think he was going to do? Bomb the ocean floors for no reason?

Well, he shouldn't really dismiss that thought. After all, Biclops wasn't too friendly or understanding or reasonable when he first met him. Perhaps King Zander was just another byproduct of misunderstandings. Maybe he was assaulted by a creator, and he was just trying to protect his people from another attack.

That still didn't justify this behavior. That still didn't justify trying to have three children killed by a wild beast for the entertainment of others. Nothing could ever justify that.

Slowly, Penny's expression changed. Her eyes narrowing, her face contorted slightly, going from hopeless to determined. "But..I do agree with you, Rudy." Penny looked at Rudy and Snap. "I do think there might be a way out...somehow." Rudy gave a small smile at this.

"And when we do get out, we will make that kingly guy pay for what he did!" Snap raised a fist up, giving off a soft growl. "This is no way to great ChalkZone's protectors!" He paused as he rubbed the side of his head. "Especially the way they treated me."

At this, Rudy realized that he and Penny never found out exactly how Snap was captured. They knew it would do little good with knowing. But just understanding what happened would help them feel a little better. "What happened?"

Snap placed his hands on the sides of his head. "Oy caloy...wasn't it something..."

Rudy and Penny couldn't help but stare at Snap sympathetically as he began to recount his tale of how he was captured.

"I had gone into this one store. Only one store. It had some plushies in it. They were cute and...well anyway, I did run into a less than friendly Chalklantian zoner, but she didn't do much, other than be a creepazoid. I did meet a much nicer one in the store, and she had wanted to show me somethin'."

Snap frowned deeply at this. Rudy and Penny could see the growing rage, hurt, and betrayal in his eyes. They both knew that this story was not going to take a pleasant turn. Considering that Snap ended up captured like them, this was of no surprise.

"She..She had tricked me. She had no intentions on showing me anything. She just wanted to trap me. She did say she was sorry, but I knew she didn't mean it when she had her partner outside come in and strike me until I fell unconscious. I don't know where they put me while they waited. I'm guessing I was kept in that back storage room where she took me."

Rudy formed a small fist with his hand. Not much made him angier than someone who pretended to be a friend who backstabbed, and then dare say they were sorry without giving anyone a reason to believe that they were sincere. Such people were some of the worst. He was glad that neither of his friends were like that.

Snap rubbed his head. "I remember waking up and being carried by those guards. I believe you know the rest."

Penny, looking at Snap sympathetically, moved in closer and placed her hand on his head, where he was rubbing it. "Does it hurt?"

Snap nodded his head. "It's a little sore."

Penny peered in closer. "Yeah, I can see a bruise. It's mostly hidden under your mask. That's why Rudy and I didn't see it before." She gently applied pressure. "Does it hurt really bad?"

Snap let out a yelp and pulled back from her. "Yes! Please, don't do that!"

Penny bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Snap. Rudy, you..." Penny stared into Rudy's eyes. They widened slowly when she appeared to realize something. "Oh...that's right..." She lowered her gaze for a few seconds. "No magic chalk." She looked back to Snap. "We'll have to get that checked out later. Head injuries are no laughing matter."

"Indeed, they aren't."

The trio stiffened up at that voice. They turned their heads, their eyes narrowing as they were greeted with the one sight that they didn't want to see.

King Zander himself.

The deer-like zoner stood a few feet from their cage, his arms folded behind his back. He stared at them in silence, as if to contemplate what he wanted to tell them, or ask of them.

At first, it seemed like he was alone. A few seconds later, they were proven wrong when they could see, in the distance, the shadow of another zoner. The bird-like figure made them all realize that it must be Kairos. The bright orange eyes that cut through the darkness gave this away.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap glared at the king. They were tempted to give him a piece of their minds. They managed to keep themselves from doing so, and kept control of themselves. But just barely.

The king gave a chuckle as he appeared to notice them shaking. "Shaking. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were angry at me."

"Grr... you're darn right we're angry!" Snap took a step forward. "Why are you..." He stopped when Rudy and Penny grabbed onto him and silenced him before he made things worse.

"It is still sad you don't know. Sad that you aren't acknowledging what you did." King Zander narrowed his eyes into slits. "That makes you all far bigger criminals than I would have expected. There's nothing I hate more than criminals who act like they did nothing wrong."

Rudy and his friends continued to frown at the king.

"At any rate, I didn't come here to humor you." King Zander looked behind him, back where Kairos was standing. He motioned with his hand. "Come on over here."

Slowly, Kairos walked forward. His body was hunched and head low as he neared the king. Even though Kairos had revealed his true colors as someone who wasn't afraid of causing pain, and almost seemed a little too eager to do so, he was still subordinate to the king. Seeing Kairos like this made the trio almost forget what kind of nasty and vile person he really was.

"I am surprised that you three did so well against the hippalectryon." King Zander said in a casual tone of voice. "I would have thought that you would have all been crushed very quickly. Impressive that you lasted that long." A thin smile spread along his lips. "My citizens were most pleased. They want to see more."

Rudy growled. "We're not some form of entertainment!"

"Oh but you are now." King Zander's eyes twinkled, his ears twitching once. "I had wanted to finish you all off quickly, but...I have a much better idea. Seeing the ones causing all our problems try to face off against obstacle after obstacle is most satisfying to my people. It makes the happy. And you three are still paying for what you did." He raised his hand up in gesture. "So I came to wish you the best of luck. Do try to stay alive, and keep things interesting for my citizens. It's the least you can do."

Snap was about to lay out another retort, but Penny coverd his mouth and silenced him. Rudy gritted his teeth tightly, biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying something stupid.

The very idea of this king using them as entertainment... It was so disgusting. What kind of sick, twisted individual got kicks out of toying with the lives of others?

"Kairos." King Zander glanced down at the still bowing bird. "Give them the stuff."

Despite his anger and fear, Rudy still managed to speak, "Stuff? What stuff?"

In a matter of seconds, the door was opened up. Rudy and his friends had the temptation to get up and flee, but Kairos's form blocked their path. They could only stand there and glare at the metal bird zoner as he rummaged through a bag slung around his body. They huddled together and braced themselves for a possible attack as the bird zoner pulled something out. Then, with a flick of his wing, something was thrown into the cage and the door immediately shut.

The trio flinched for a few seconds, their eyes shut. When they realized that nothing was happening, they opened their eyes and looked down towards the ground. They immediately noticed that there was a small bag on the ground that looked like it was filled with a number of stuff. Cautiously, they pulled the back open and looked.

There was one of the bottles of water Rudy and Penny had brought with, two sandwiches for the two human children, as well as some chalk water and chalk food that Snap could eat.

They couldn't help but eye this suspiciously. They looked back at the two zoners before them. They knew that this was not an act of kindness. They couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of trap.

Rudy stared at the bottle of water intently. He could feel his chest flutter at this. Perhaps they could...

"Don't even think about it." King Zander said before Rudy had a chance to finish his thoughts. "I can see what you're thinking there. If you dare try it, I will make sure you regret it." At this, Kairos raised up a wing, the light shining on the metal tips. "Kairos and I will remain here while you eat. And Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez? Finish that water. I don't want a single drop left in that bottle."

Rudy growled at this. Of course the king thought ahead enough to consider that. He had known they could use it later on to get out and he was deliberately preventing them doing doing anything with it for an escape.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Eat up." Kairos told them, his eyes glinting. After just a few seconds of silence, he added, "If you don't want it.."

"Kairos.."

"Sorry, sire." Kairos immediately recoiled back.

King Zander stared at him for a few moments. Then he looked down at the trio. He seemed to notice their hesitation. His expression briefly showed a hint of understanding. It was gone almost as soon as it came in. "I promise you that we did not taint the food, if that is what you're worried about. Now, if you are hungr or thirsty, finish it up. If not, then Kairos will take it back and you won't be given the chance again for another two hours."

The trio winced at the thought of not being able to eat or drink anything for another few hours. They could feel their stomachs growling and they felt their mouths get a little dry. They smacked their lips a little bit as they looked back down at the food again.

Come to think of it, they did use up a lot of their energy running around, trying to survive the hippalectryon's attacks. As much as they hated to admit it, they needed their strength and energy and they had no choice but to take the king's offer. Even though they had no idea if the king was telling the truth or not, what choice did they have? It was either this, or be hungry for even longer.

If they were going to escape, they needed all the energy they could get.

However, it seemed they waited too long for the king's liking.

"Hmm... it seems you three aren't hungry or thirsty yet. Kairos?"

Kairos began to move forward. Rudy, Penny, and Snap widened their eyes at this and leaned back.

"Wait! We're going! See?"

Kairos paused and glared at the trio as they began to eat the sandwiches given to them. As much as it pained them to smile at their captors, they knew they had to do whatever they could to keep them from taking away the food and water. Thankfully, their act seemed to work and Kairos took a step back upon gesture from the king.

"Good. I knew you three would see reason." King Zander folded his arms against his chest. "Now consume it all. I want you to have as much energy as possible so you will be able to handle the next round in the colosseum. My citizens wouldn't like it very much if one of you fell asleep in the middle of the arena." He gave a soft chuckle at that. "It would be rather boring, don't you think?"

Rudy cast a glare at the king. He remained quiet, knowing that no about of yelling or snapping at the king would improve his or his friends' situation. He looked back at his friends, each exchanging nervous, anxious, and angered expressions.

Under the watchful eyes of their two captors, they began to eat slowly.

sss

"Can't you go any faster?" Denny grumbled.

He tapped his fingers against the table. He leaned against the wall with one hand, supporting himself. He looked down at Ian, who was pulled up in his computer chair, the monitor in front of him. The room they were in was dark, so the monitor provided their only light. The clicking sounds of keys being stroked filled the air, ringing in his ears.

Denny couldn't remember how long he had been standing here. He could feel his hand start to get sore. He wanted to reorient himself, but he couldn't; he was too busy looking at the screen to fully pay attention to his own bodily needs.

He wished that Ian would hurry up. He didn't know how long the boss was going to be gone. The day wasn't done yet. Not even close. The boss was still lurking around. If he came in here right now and saw them, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Well, he might let Ian off, since he was part of security anyway. But for him... Denny would have to hope that his boss was in a good mood.

"It will take a little time." Ian replied. "You must be patient."

"I've been patient for the past hour!" Hissed Denny. "How long does this take?!"

"Longer than you might think. The video files are always encrypted and secured, and it's all one huge file. Even if we knew an exact time, it would take a while to sort through and find the right place. I'm sorry if you were expecting an automatic 'point and click and it's there' scenario like from the movies and TV. But that's not how it works in real life." Ian grumbled to him as he kept on typing.

Denny opened his mouth to reply. He thought better of it, and quickly shut it. What was the use? He wasn't going to make Ian move any faster. He was certain that Ian could speed things up a little, but it was clear the man was more interested in keeping things going at his current, steady, monotenous pace. The only thing he could do was wait for him to finish.

He couldn't remember the exact time he had seen those brats come into his office. He remembered it was a few hours ago, near the start of the work day for him. He gave the best time he could to Ian. He hoped that it would be enough to find that footage.

As Ian continued to sift through the footage, Denny could feel his heart begin to pound in excitement. He was getting so close to finally exposing his boss for the fraud that he was. He was getting close to making this library his. Yeah, not much of an aspiration, but he didn't care. He had wanted to improve things here for a long time. Now he was finally getting his chance. He just needed that footage.

Then, after what felt like forever, there was a loud double click, static, and a video came up, zoomed in. He leaned in closer, staring at it intently. The feed was fuzzy and he could barely make out what was on the screen. He grumbled softly to himself about how they needed to get better equipment. He turned to Ian expectantly.

"This is from the time frame you gave me. This is the camera located in the hallway to your office." Ian explained. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "We just sit here and wait. If those children did go into your office, we will see them on camera."

"I hope you're right." Denny said, his voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to get disappointed again."

"You won't."

Denny hoped that Ian would be able to come through for him. He had suffered disappointment time and time again. Not really Ian per say, but with himself. He had tried in the past to report a child, only to have his boss reprimand him. Even if he thought he had come up with a good way to convince the boss of the truth, he would dismiss it.

Now, it felt as if his whole life was riding on this. Depending on what they find, this might change his life for the better. He couldn't defend himself before because the brats would just lie about what happened.

But with this... Video footage... There was no way that anyone could lie or deny what happened. If his boss continues to deny what happened, even in light of the evidence...

Denny couldn't help but smile inwardly. Oh boy, that would be a good day.

"Okay, we got something." Ian said softly.

Denny looked at the screen eagerly. The footage was still staticky, but that didn't stop him from seeing the shadows moving along the wall. Two. Small ones. He recognized them as the same ones he had spotted before. As the footage continued to play, slowly, the figures came forward, getting into the view of the camera.

When they were close enough, the man's eyes widened. He recognized these two children.

It was Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez.

sss

Rudy covered his ears as the sound of scraping filled the air. He tried to block it out, but it continued to grate him, making him cover his ears tightly.

"Will you pipe down?!" Snap called out. Rudy didn't know why Snap was bothering to try. It's not like the guards were going to listen. "We can't relax like you want us to with all that noise!"

Penny put her hand on Snap's shoulder. "Give it a rest, Snap. You know they are just going to keep ignoring you."

Snap looked up at Penny. He took in a few quick breaths, then he exhaled slowly. "Yeah...I know..." He cast another glare at the guards. "I'm not going to like it, though."

"None of us are." Penny said.

Rudy agreed with both his friends. With Penny, regarding the futility of arguing. And with Snap, regarding the irritation of the whole thing. He wasn't happy just sitting around, doing nothing. Yet, that was all he and his friends could do right now. Sit and wait until King Zander called them in for another round in the colosseum.

He felt his mind burn. The king thought of them as some piece of entertainment. As if they were nothing more than mere toys that he could play with whenever he wanted to. Like they were just his property. He wanted to tear into the king so badly. Only the worry of punishment kept him from speaking out against him.

He had never met a zoner like this before. Even Skrawl treated them more like people than this king was, and that was saying something. He never thought he'd see the day when that jellybean was the more respectable one.

He turned his head and watched with one eye as the guards continued pushing the cage along the ground. Rudy wasn't really sure what they planned on doing with it, but the sound it was making was highly grating to him. They had been doing this for the past ten minutes, process being slow and painful.

It was hard for him and his friends to relax. Well, they wouldn't be doing much relaxing here, in a place like this. But the irritating scraping was making this task even harder. He was tempted to do what Snap did and yell at them to stop. Unlike Snap, however, he managed to hold his tongue, pressing his teeth against the flesh to discourage himself.

He turned to his friends. "What do you think they're bringing the cage in for?"

"Who cares?" Snap grumbled softly. He folded his arms. "It's probably nothin' good anyway."

Penny took a quick look at the cage, which was about two feet away from them at this point. "They are probably bringing in another prisoner. Perhaps a disobedient slave."

"Knowing the king, I wouldn't be surprised." Snap rolled his eyes in irritation. "That guy is one huge creepazoid."

"That, I can agree on. But we won't get anywhere if we sit here, dissing the king." Penny narrowed her eyes in a contemplative way. "We need to start planning a little more. Maybe we could use the next colosseum 'round', as the king puts it, to escape."

"I'm not sure how we will be able to do that, Buckette." Snap commented. He pointed a rounded hand in her direction. "Unless you are thinking we can fly out."

Penny put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, that is an option. If we could just..."

"Hello?! In case you haven't noticed, we can't fly!" Snap cried.

"Shut up!" One of the guards yelled before they walked off, likely to get the new prisoner.

Penny glared softly at Snap. "You need to keep your voice down!"

"Well sorry!" Snap told her.

Rudy, not wanting to risk another potential outburst that would draw attention, stepped forward and spoke up. "I do agree that flight may be our best option. There are some zoners here that can fly, so we won't be completely safe. But..." He turned his head to look upwards. "Flight would still give us an advantage." He lowered his head back to its original posture. "If we had some way to achieve it..."

"Oh no you too, Bucko." Snap looked at Rudy with a disappointed expression. "We need to think of something else. There's no way that we will be able to find anything we could use to fly w..." A loud creak and the sound of footsteps interrupted him. Snap turned his eyes back, frowning. "Oh what now..?"

The trio turned their heads to see the guards returning. They could hear grunting sounds, and clanging off feet, and they knew that another prisoner was coming in. They turned their heads away, not wanting to see the guards mistreat someone else from the kingdom. They couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever was being dragged into this mess.

But quickly, only seconds later, something became familiar about the grounds. They started to sound like someone that they knew, even though no words were spoken. And the clangs, it sounded as if there were more than one feet, and yet, they all felt... attached to the same body. They looked at each other, their eyes growing wide. Could it be possible that...?

"Unhand me!" The voice cried. "This is unexpectable!"

It was. They couldn't believe it. It was him. But..what was he doing all the way down here?

"Shut it, bug!"

"Yeah! You can complain all you want. You are never leaving this place!"

A loud slam. Clanging of a door shutting. The stammering of feet as they climbed back up. "This wasn't part of the deal! Come back here!"

Rudy, Penny, and Snap turned around. As soon as they saw the figure standing in the cage next to them, their suspicions had been all but confirmed.

"Barney?!" Rudy cried in shock.

At this, the centipede turned his head. His antenna straightened out in shock when he saw the trio in the cage. "My word... Rudy, Penny, and Snap?" He held his hand up in gesture. "What..What are you three doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Said Snap. "How did you end up here?"

Barney's antennas curled inward a little. "It's a long story. It's... It's my fault really. I should have known that this would have happened..."

"Oh don't say that. I'm sure whatever happened wasn't your fault." Snap tried to comfort the zoner. He looked like he wanted to give Barney a hug, but he was blocked by the electrified bars.

"Please..." Penny held her hands together. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

Rudy nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, Barney." The centipede looked away. "Come on, Barney. We won't judge you. Please..tell lus what happened."

Barney looked back at them with a hesitant look. He sucked in a breath and sighed. "Well...okay." He lowered half is body down, his legs sprawling out. He tapped his fingers together nervously, his wings folding flat against his body. "It all started when..."

He began to tell his story.


	11. Allegience With An Old Friend

"I am sure you that you three remember what happened with that balloonemia epidemic, right?" Those were Barney's first words as he started the story.

Penny and her friends nodded their heads slowly. How could they ever forget that? That was the day that they nearly lost everyone. When she nearly lost her best friend. She could never forget the sight of the infected zoners, or how Rudy was going to courageously give up his life to save ChalkZone.

She still had nightmares of that day. Everything nearly went so horribly wrong. True, she didn't remember all their adventures since they went on so many. But that one? She couldn't erase it from her mind. It was permanently engraved in her brain.

Barney looked at them sympathetically. "Yeah, I thought so."

His antenna curled up as he recalled the unpleasant disease. Poor Barney had to sit through that incident twice. And the first time, there had been no cure. All those zoners... Gone...

Barney cleared his throat and began to speak, "Well after that, and after I had gotten away from those pesky zoners wanting more information..." Suddenly he stopped and gave a soft glare to Rudy. "You see? That's why I fled! Now do you see what I mean by 'Oh Barney please help us', 'Oh Barney you have to give us information'..."

Rudy glared at him, crossing his arms. "Will you just please continue?"

Barney realized he had gone a bit on a tangent. "Oh right, yes." He did another clear of the throat. "Right then..now where was I...?"

"You were going to tell us how you got here." Snap said, pointing his head towards him. "So what were you saying?"

"Ah yes!" Barney clasped one hand over his other. He shut his eyes as he allowed the memories to float back to him. "It took me a while to lose those zoners. I waited until after all the commotion had settled down before I went to find my dear friend, King Mumbo Jumbo. It hadn't taken me too long to find him, thankfully. He was hanging out at my secret, favorite hiding place where he knew I would come later."

"Secret hiding place? I didn't know you had one outside of that forest." Snap commented. "Where is it?"

Barney folded his arms. "It's a secret. You're not supposed to know!"

"Aww come on! You can trust us." Snap said. "I'm sure that we..."

"The answer is no." Barney said, cutting him off. "It's none of your business!"

"I don't see why..." Snap started to say.

"After the stunt your friend pulled..." Penny was taken aback when Barney glanced over at her, giving her a displeased look. "I'm not taking the risk again."

"Hey, that's not fair! What did Penny do?" Rudy asked the centipede. His eyes were narrowed, locking onto Barney's. "She..."

Barney looked at the trio one by one, giving a look that suggested he couldn't believe they didn't get it. Penny had a feeling that she should remember what Barney was referring to. But she was constantly drawing a blank. She couldn't tell what had Barney all worked up about right now, and why it was bad enough to delay the story he was trying to tell.

She thought back to what happened during the balloonemia incident. She tried to think of anything that she could have done that upset Barney. She couldn't really think of anything in particular. It was just all...a blank. She remembered the parts where they were finding Barney and then trying to save ChalkZone, but nothing in particular about what she did to make him upset.

Barney glared at her expectantly. It was clear that he believed that she should know this, and he was waiting for her to say what it was. She would, oh how she would love to. But how could she if she couldn't even remember what she did? So much had happened that day, that she couldn't pinpoint that exact moment.

Barney gave a sigh. "You really don't remember, do you?"

Penny shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't."

"Very well then." Barney spoke softly. He stared at Penny long and hard for a few seconds. Then he leaned his head slightly closer, tilting his head to one side. "You attempted to get information out of me without asking. You acted just like the other zoners whom I had been trying to hide from."

Penny's eyes widened at this.

Barney continued. "You had become the very thing that had drove me into hiding. I had thought you would have been better than that. I see I was wrong."

Penny couldn't believe it. She had nearly forgotten about that. A wave of guilt washed through her when she remembered how she had acted like everyone else, searching Barney for information. She had just befriended him and had treated him well before, only to back stab him and use him like a living dictionary. How could she have done that?

Penny lowered her head. "I'm..I'm sorry."

"Now wait a minute! That's not fair! Penny didn't mean to..." Snap started to say. Rudy immediately silenced him by holding onto his shoulder.

Rudy stared at Snap for a few moments, and then he looked over at Barney. His eyes were slightly narrowed. "I hope you're not holding that against her."

Barney cocked up an eyebrow. "I still like her. I still like all of you. But after that..." He turned his head away a little. "I..."

Rudy gritted his teeth. "I can't believe you..."

"Well I couldn't believe your friend, either." Barney retorted.

"She has a name, you..." Rudy started to say.

Penny immediately rushed forward. She put her hand against Rudy's shoulder and pushed him back. "Rudy, stop!"

Snap joined in. He held onto Rudy's hand and pulled him back. "Settle down, Bucko! Now isn't the time for you to be fighting!"

Rudy looked at his friends. He then looked at Barney. He glared at the centipede in the eyes for several moments. It was like they were trapped in some kind of staring contest. Neither faltered for several minutes. The only sounds that could be heard were their heavy breathing.

Then, slowly, Rudy's facial expression relaxed. He leaned away, his body becoming more lax and less rigid. His hands slowly became unclenched, his fingers hanging limply, his hands at his sides. He looked away from Barney and back at his friends. He had a look of regret on his face, looking ashamed about what he had almost done.

Rudy turned back to Barney. Once more, he stared at him, this time, with a softened expression. He let out a soft breath of air, turning his eyes down for a moment. When he turned his eyes back towards Barney, he said, "...sorry. Continue on wi..."

"I must apologize myself." Barney placed a hand against his chest. "I admit, I am not in the most chipper mood and..." He looked at Penny, looking a little regretful for what he had said. He bit his lip and turned his head away. "It's not even her I'm angry at." He shut his eyes tightly. "It's that blasted king."

"Yeah... He has me worked up, too." Rudy agreed. He motioned to Penny and Snap. "All of us have a bone to pick with him."

"He tricked us. He sent us a note and told us to come here. Then he told us he needed help, then we built this colosseum, this stadium, and then he trapped us, and he tried to kill us..." Penny grumbled, her words filling with more venom as she rambled on. There were so many things she could say about the king right now. She barely managed to hold herself back.

Barney stared at her sympathetically. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He narrowed his eyes, looking away from the trio. "The king is the reason I'm here, as well."

Realizing that Barney still hadn't finished his story, Penny took a step forward. She made a motion with her hand, and nodded her head wordlessly. The anger and frustration she and her friends felt earlier were gone as they turned all eyes and ears to the centipede.

Barney looked at them with regret, feeling some sadness that he had derailed the story telling. He didn't waste time, and he immediately continued the story.

"Well anyway, King Mumbo Jumbo and I had wanted to go on vacation. We wanted to go somewhere, where we could relax, especially after what had happened. It had been so long since we hung out, we had a hard time picking out a place to go. We eventually decided on here. I wanted to fill out some of the blanks in my database, and coming here would have helped me with that."

Barney paused for a moment to catch his breath. Then he continued.

"It wasn't easy getting in here. I won't waste time on those details. You already know we got in, so I'll continue. We had been forced to see the king. He wouldn't allow us to leave unless he spoke to us. He hadn't been happy we had just barged into his kingdom unannounced. Well as you can imagine, this only confused my friend and I. How were we to contact the king beforehand? Well anyway, he allowed us to stay, but only if we did something for him."

Penny glanced at her friends. It would seem that Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo hadn't exactly been on great terms with the king here. Then again, she had a feeling she knew why that was.

Mumbo Jumbo was a king himself. His very presence may have spooked King Zander a little. He might have thought that King Mumbo Jumbo was going to take his place somehow. There was often most tension when two kings were involved. She bit her lip, hoping that King Zander had at least been merciful.

Barney went on, "I won't bore you with everything we had to do. That would take a while. I'll just say it took us a while, and then the king seemed to start to trust us. It was only after this that King Mumbo Jumbo and I had been able to have any fun. Sure there was the occasional xenophobia, but we pretty much handled ourselves." He smiled for a moment as he recalled the memories. "Yes, this place has some of the most joyous scenery..." He then frowned. "Too bad that changed really fast."

The trio glanced at each other worriedly. Now it was time for the story to veer off in a less than pleasant ground. They all began to imagine all kinds of horrible things the king must have done to these two.

"Go on..." Rudy said cautiously.

"Yeah, what happened?" Snap asked.

"We had called us in suddenly. He addressed me mostly. He said he wanted some help. There was some information that he wanted. I asked him what kind of information he wanted, and he..he said..." Barney looked at them sadly. His antenna curled up. "He told me if I didn't give the information...then I wouldn't see my friend again. He had a couple of guards take King Mumbo Jumbo away and locked him up somewhere. I..."

Penny put her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Barney..." She gritted her teeth. "I'm so sorry..."

"Poor guy..." Snap commented sympathetically.

Rudy stared at Barney for a few moments, his eyes wide in shock. "Barney..." His voice trailed off. It was clear that he couldn't think of anything to say at that.

Barney's antennas curled even more, becoming tight balls on his head. "I couldn't believe it. I had just gotten my friend back.. The one I hadn't seen in hundreds of years... and I had just started to make up for what I've done to him. And..." He held his hand up. "They took him away! My best friend!"

The centipede started to break down crying. Tears streamed down his face, his eyes shutting and his head lowering. He brought his hands up, covering his face with them as he wept.

The trio kept quiet for a while, allowing him to cry. They stared at him sympathetically, their hearts aching and twisting at the sight of this. They felt so bad for him, and their hatred of the king increased. How dare the king do such a thing... Barney had suffered enough already. How dare the king take his friend away from him like that...

And for what? To squeeze information out of him? To manipulate him? Barney had already had to endure lots of zoners asking for information, but this was even worse. King Zander had outright forced Barney to relinquish information by threatening his dear old friend. How low could that zoner go...?

Barney blew his nose against his arm. He wiped it against his side. He sniffled as he attempted to slow down his crying. The soft whimpers and the tears kept coming, but soon he calmed down.

"Oh Barney... You poor thing..." Penny whispered softly.

"What else did that creepazoid do?" Snap asked.

"W-Well..." Barney began. His voice had a slight crack to it. "He told me that if I didn't relinquish all the information he wanted to know, he would...he would subject my friend to his personal beast."

The trio gasped at this. Of all the low down, dirty tricks...

"S-So...I told him everything. I...I didn't have a choice. I had to tell him..." Barney put his hands to his face. He cried softly into them. "But...But it was all a lie! He lied to me! He pulled the rug out of from beneath me! He locked me up here! I won't be able to see my friend again!"

Penny and her friends stared at the centipede with saddened eyes. They looked at one another. They all had the same thoughts on their minds. They could find a way out of here. They would free King Mumbo Jumbo. And then they would make sure that King Zander answered to what he had done.

But would they be able to do that? How could they bring a king to justice, in a place where their rules don't apply? Penny realized that they wouldn't be able to do much to the king. Their best chance was to flee as soon as they were able to.

But how would they be able to get out of this?

Barney's voice took her away from her thoughts. "I'm...I'm so sorry, you guys..."

The trio looked at him in confusion. They exchanged nervous glances to each other. What was he talking about...?

Barney looked at them. He held a strong expression of shame. This only heightened the group's confusion. Exactly what was Barney so ashamed of? What had he done that he felt so much regret for? And why was he staring at them in that way?

Barney's lower lip quivered. "The king forced me to tell him all about you..." The trio gasped at this. "I tried to resist... I was able to hold on for a while. I forget how long it had been. The sun and moon never show up here. King Mumbo Jumbo told me to be strong and I tried...Oh how I tried..." He shut his eyes, rapid tears pooling from them. "But I was so weak! I told him! And he locked me up!"

Penny, Rudy, and Snap were shocked by this turn of events. They looked at each other. Their eyes were wide, and their mouth either open or teeth gritted. Their minds swirled with thoughts as the full weight of what Barney told them began to settle in.

So, that's how the king knew about them. He had forced the information out of Barney. He had milked all the data from his pods through blackmail. That's how the king knew where to find Snap, and how to trick them into coming down here. This sent chills down their spine. If King Zander got all the information from Barney, that meant that he knew a lot of their secrets. This terrified them.

But there were still some questions left unanswered. Did the king knew about them beforehand, or did Barney tell them? Exactly when did Barney relinquish the information? If it was recently, how did the king find them, then? What else did the king do with Barney? What was the complete story?

But though they wanted to ask Barney for more, they decided that it was enough for now. Barney was in no condition to keep talking about this. He was already broken down, his teeth clenched tightly. For now, they would let Barney cry it out, and wait until he had released his emotions before attempting to talk to him again.

sss

Barney took a while to settle down. Rudy wasn't sure how long it had been. At least ten minutes at the very minimum. His ears were starting to ache a little from all the crying. But he dare not say a word. Not now. Not while Barney was still letting it all out. He needed this.

Still, Rudy would be lying if he didn't say he was relieved when he heard Barney start to calm down at last. The centipede went down onto the ground completely, his arms being the only limbs not splayed on the ground. His head was downcasted, and though he still sniffled, he had gone a lot quieter. Soon, even this stopped.

Rudy looked over at his friends, who were still eyeing Barney sympathetically. They couldn't spend all their time trying to cheer Barney up. He didn't want to be a jerk or anything, but they had a serious situation on their hands. They needed to find a way out of here.

On top of that, they also had to formulate a rescue plan to save King Mumbo Jumbo. They weren't just going to leave him here. They had to get him out as well.

He just..wasn't sure how yet they were going to do that. This was going to be a lot more complicated than he thought. It was bad enough before when they had to figure out how to get themselves out of there. It was enough trouble just getting out of this cell and to their submarine, if it's even still there. But now they had King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney to worry about. This was going to make escape a lot more complicated than it was before.

How were they going to pull this off? This would require not only getting out of here, but also traversing across enemy territory to wherever the tortoise's holding chamber is, getting him out, and then getting to the submarine. Then they have to hope that it's still there and still functioning, and sneak past any guard that might be there. That was not going to be easy.

But..there had to be a way, right..? There just had to be. If they could just...

He stared over at Barney. Slowly, his eyes moved over the centipede's body, trailing along each pod. He stared for a few moments, the back of his mind slowly turning its gears as an idea began to formulate in his head. It was a long shot, and Barney did mention that he was trying to 'fill in some data'. But...maybe...

"Hey, Barney?" Rudy said softly. The centipede turned his head towards him. He wiped away a tear from his eye as he nodded his head, gesturing for Rudy to continue. "Do you think that you have any information for..."

"Oh, so you're going to come crawling to me for information?" Barney scowled, putting his hands on his hips. "What a jolly time for that!"

Rudy gritted his teeth. "Barney, we're all in danger. You can't just..."

"Oh pipe down, Rudy. I was just joking." Barney made a dismissive wave at him. "You need to work on your sarcasm there." Barney noticed that Rudy wasn't appreciating his 'joke', so he cleared his throat motioned his hand towards him. "Anyway, go on."

Rudy quickly pushed aside his annoyance as he began to speak. "Well, what I was trying to ask you is if you have any information about Chalklantis that would be of some use to us." He held his hands out in front of him. "Like...a map or something. Or anything."

"Yeah, or anything about these zoners that we should know, or anything about this landscape." Penny said, raising a finger up. "The more knowledge we have, the better."

"Well, Barney?" Snap held out his rounded hand towards the centipede zoner. "Do you have anything useful? Something that can at least get us out of here?"

"Hmm..." Barney frowned, looking upwards as he tried to think. It was hard to tell if he was even looking in his database from there. Nonetheless, he still thought carefully for a short time. Then after a while, he said, "Not really. I don't have a large database of Chalklantis. It's even older than I am." He pressed a hand against himself. "I do know at the very least, that King Zander used to allow visitors, but he stopped at some point." He looked over at Rudy and Penny. "Before you two came in, that's for sure."

Penny tilted her head, scratching it. "But...that doesn't make sense. You should have Chalklantis in there, right?"

"Yeah. Doesn't it record everything in ChalkZone?" Snap inquired.

Barney nodded his head. "Indeed, it should. It might be possible that someone hacked into it and tried to erase the data. That's no problem, as I can rebuild the database simply through experience." He spread his hands outward. "I had already started to refill some of the blanks during my...stay here."

"Someone messing with your database...?" Rudy whispered softly, his eyes slowly widening. "So maybe the king wasn't lying about the surface spy after all..."

Rudy thought the king had lied about that. After Barney told them that he had relinquished the information, it just seemed obvious that the king lied about the spy just to freak them out. But according to Barney's story, that may not have been the case. Now everything is thrown for a loop.

"I'm sure he probably lied to you about the spy in some way, just how he had lied to me." Barney said, folding his arms. "But I can guarantee you, he wasn't lying about having someone up on the surface. That's one of the few things I learned about the king. He has a few spies up there, actually."

This caused the trio's hearts to skip beats. The king having spies on the surface made their stomachs clench in worry. They glanced at each other. They all knew what this could mean.

They had to wonder what else the king knew about them. What else could he use against them? How well did he know them? What knowledge did he absorb? It was bad enough before, but now they were all terrified of what other knowledge he might have picked up. What if he knew about the red chalk? Or that strange water in the Wait 'N Sea that made adult humans behave weird? Could that water be used as a weapon against zoners somehow? Or Rudy himself and Penny if adjusted properly?

"I wish I could tell you some secret way of getting out of here." Barney looked at the trio sadly. "Really, I would. But..." He spread his hands outward. "I might have a ton of information, but that doesn't mean I have the answers to everything."

Rudy nodded his head solemnly, as well as his friends. They understood where Barney was coming from. He was right. He recalled the balloonemia incident. Barney seemed like the go-to guy for the job. But the centipede ultimately didn't have any information that could help them. Rudy himself had to figure out a cure himself.

But that didn't mean they still wouldn't appreciate his help. He might have some information that would prove useful. And if they could find a map that they were unable to take with, they could have Barney memorize it into his database, and they could pull it up whenever they needed it. Even if Barney couldn't help in some ways, there were other ways that he could be of use to them.

"But..."

They all looked at him expectantly. The centipede was looking at them again. He had a more brightened look to him, his expression looking less sorrowful or hopeless. There seemed to be the tiniest hint of determination in those eyes.

"I can still try to help you." Barney said. "After all, you three did help reunite me with my best friend, and you did help stop the balloonemia epidemic from claiming more zoners." He gave a smile and gestured towards the three. "I owe you one."

Rudy and his friends smiled at this. They were glad that Barney was still willing to help, despite the trouble and difficulty. Getting out of here wasn't going to be easy, but they were certain it wasn't impossible. They were certain that, with Barney on their side, they could come up with an escape plan soon.

But they need to be careful. The last thing they needed was for King Zander or any of his lackeys to hear what they were saying. They wouldn't get very far in escape of he happened overhear any part of their plan. They would have to be sure to only speak about this when they were by themselves.

Now was a good time to start planning.

sss

Hmm...so the three did better than he had expected. They had outperformed, and managed to last through the round.

A part of King Zander had expected this. From what he had gathered about those three, they were resourceful, and quick thinking. He shouldn't be too surprised at how well they had performed. Better than he or Kairos had thought they would.

On the other hand, however, he was disappointed. He hadn't wanted to make this last longer than it needed to be. He wanted all of this done swiftly, so he could move on. He wished those three had just allowed the hippalectryon to crush them to death. It would have just made things so much easier for everyone.

But they were stubborn. Survival instincts. They were hard to control, he knew. Even if they agreed to let themselves to die, their panicking brains would still cause them to try to survive and fight back.

No matter. It hadn't actually been all that bad that they survived this round. The crowd had went wild. His people, though angry at first, swiftly came to realize that they had enjoyed the spectacle before them. It had been a long time since any of them had a show quite like this.

This had caused his plans to turn on their head. He still wanted to get rid of them, but he also wanted to make his people happy. He had meant what he said before, about this being fitting punishment for the three children. Forcing them to fight for their lives in the arena. Now his plan was to keep them alive for as long as possible, or however long until the crowd gets bored.

But he still needed to keep things interesting. He couldn't just keep doing the same thing over and over. They would get bored, and they may start questioning him. He needed to keep it as fresh as possible.

Luckily, he already had a plan on what beast to bring out next. It would be the perfect next opponent. He would certainly find some real joy in seeing how Rudy and his pals managed to get out of this one. If they were as good as he heard, they would find a way. And it will be so much entertainment watching them try.

He continued to walk down the hallway. Left and right, there were a ton of beasts that he had locked up in large, powerful, restrained cells. Each one had a different kind of creature. They all squawked or screamed or roared or gurgled at him, depending on what they were. He paid none of them any mind, his walking continuing, his arms folded behind his back.

He had one creature in particular in mind. There was one that he felt was the perfect upgrade from the hippalectryon without getting too difficult. After all, he wanted to milk this for all that it was worth.

He soon found the cell he was looking for. Around the middle row, there lay a reinforced cage, a few thick metal bars keeping the occupent inside. As he peered in, he could see a large chain on the floor, attached to what he knew was the creature itself.

King Zander gave a soft chuckle. "You are going to have a few new 'friends' to play with." He leaned in a little closer, his dark eyes staring at the creature intently. "I am sure that you will not disappoint them either. They had already had their fun for now, but soon...you will be up next. Do not worry. You'll get your chance..."

He could hear the sound of the chain clanging, dragging along the ground. He could see a massive shape coming forward. The creature was large, nearly towering over the king. Its eyes piereced through the darkness, focusing on the king himself.

King Zander spread his arms out in excitement as the beast came into full view. The sight of it only made his heart quicken with adrenaline, his smile broadening and his eyes glinting with glee. He found himself unable to turn away, and the smile simply refused to disappear.

Oh yes, he would love to see what Rudy and his dear friends do to get out of this one.


	12. Lights Up And Go

“But I already told you, I don’t have anything that would...” Barney started to say.

“Can you at least look?” Rudy cut him off. He held his hands up towards him in gesture. A silent pleading to get Barney to speak more. “You did say you rebuilt some of your internal database after it was messed with, right?”

“Well yes, but...” Barney didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Well isn’t there anything from that you could tell us?” Rudy asked him. “I mean...there has to be something...”

Barney shook his head. “I am almost certain that you would find nothing in here that will help us get out of this place. Nor will it provide enough information to know how to get around these Chalklantians. I would need to gather more information, and I can’t do that locked up in here.”

“Is that how you...” Penny asked before Barney cut her off.

“Yes.” Barney nodded his head once. “Since my internal system is disrupted at the moment, thanks to whoever had done this to me, I can’t store information the normal way anymore. I am sorry that I didn’t get that cleared up earlier. I was just so distraught with what happened lately with me and King Mumbo Jumbo that...”

“It’s all right.” Penny gave him a gentle smile. “We understand.”

Snap nodded his head in understanding. “Please continue.”

“Anyway, I am not able to store bits of information like I normally would. Normally, whenever something new happened in ChalkZone, there’s a sort of...signal I get...” Barney raised his hands up. He paused for a moment, and then said, “I don’t think I can explain it. But that what happens. Well that signal was disrupted, and now everything has to be entered manually. Which for me, just means experience or seeing it for myself.” He folded his arms to himself. “Yeah, tedious I know...”

He tapped his foot a few times, expressing his displeasure towards the idea of manually entering data. Rudy, Penny, and Snap could sympathize, especially Rudy and Penny. That would be like having to go from printing out paper to having to write everything themselves. Their hands hurt as they recalled how much that ached.

Barney turned his head and looked at his different pods that hooked up to him, each one with a different set of letters. He frowned deeply, thoughtfully, as he continued to trail his eyes until they reached his last body part. Then he turned his head away and sighed.

“Well, I am glad that, at least, they didn’t destroy all my internal data...” The centipede mumbled under his breath. “I still have access to everything else. Just not Chalklantis.”

Rudy was relieved by this, and he knew his friends were as well. Barney relied a ton on his pods when it came to information. Rudy guessed that Barney’s own brain is incapable of storing nearly as much information, and the insect zoner had gotten so used to them being in his parts that he had neglected to try to save some of the information in his own brain. Penny did say that brains do have a limited space to store information, even if they could store a ton, and Barney’s design helped to alleviate the burden from his brain.

Unfortunately, this meant a lot of trouble for the centipede if that information was disrupted. If data were continuously erased, Barney would risk reverting more and more into the ‘babbling moron’ from before. This storage type came with a huge cost. At least Barney swore never to disconnect himself again.

Rudy hoped that none of the zoners here got wise to this weakness of Barney and decided to use it against him. What would happen if they erased all entries of King Mumbo Jumbo? Or themselves? How would the centipede react?

Rudy tried not to think about it as he turned his attention back to Barney. He bit his lip. Despite what Barney told him, Rudy still refused to believe that there wasn’t something in there that could help. Barney still had trillions of other data pieces in there. Surely there would be something in there that could help them.

“Please...” Rudy’s soft voice came. Barney looked over at him. “Can’t you at least try to look?”

“Look, I told you. I already...” Barney started to speak.

“Well you can look again, right? After all, sometimes if you look a second time, or third time, you will find somethin’ you haven’t before.” Snap suggested, holding up his hand.

Penny looked at Snap for a second. There seemed to be a flash in her eyes. “Snap is correct, Barney.” She looked at the centipede. “You’ll be amazed at what you can find if you look more than once in the same place. So why don’t you give it a try? What do you have to lose?”

“Well we have time to lose. We need to...” Barney paused for a moment. He gritted his teeth, looking left and right. “Well, I suppose I can try something.”

Rudy smiled at this, glad to hear that the centipede was trying to be more cooperative. He and his friends watched and waited as Barney shut his eyes and started to look in his internal database.

However, there was a disruption.

A loud bang caused them all to jump into the air. They turned their heads over to see that the guards had returned. They were stomping their way towards them, their hands holding the same cuffs they had used on them before.

Rudy hunched his back, narrowing his eyes. “What do you guys want...?”

There was no answer, not that he expected one. He and his friends took on defensive stances while Barney looked at the guards warily. As the door was opened up, Rudy, Penny, and Snap prepared to fight back. They hoped that, maybe if they struggled enough, they could squeeze past and escape this joint.

But the struggle was brief. The guards were too quick and strong. They grabbed onto Rudy’s arms roughly and swiftly, and yanked them behind his back. Rudy winced as he felt the metal press against his skin as the cuffs were in place again. He heard a couple more clicks and he turned his head to see that his friends were already handcuffed as well. The guards then dragged them out, despite their best efforts to escape, and began to take them down the hallway like they did before.

The only difference was that, this time, they had someone else joining them. Rudy looked behind him and struggled to see what was going on with Barney. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Barney was being hauled over as well. Rudy expected the centipede to fly away until he realized that his wings had been bound tightly against him. He guessed Barney couldn’t undo them himself, or else they’d be off by now.

Rudy scowled at the treatment of his friends. How roughly they were pulled. How the guards didn’t care if they were making them uncomfortable. But there was nothing Rudy could do about it. He was helpless to stop himself, or any of them, from being dragged back towards the arena. His eyes widened and his heart began to thump as they were being taken place back towards that horrible place.

sss

Well it seemed that the king had anticipated the problem of ringing Barney into the arena. He must have known that they would try to free his wings, so he had taken care of that. The top of the arena was now covered in a dome. It stretched all around, completely blocking out any sign of light from the outside, trapping them inside. This completely cut off any flight route for the centipede in case his wings got free.

Not that flying would have done them any good here. Rudy noticed that there were a few flying zoners stationed at strategic points. They were all glaring at them coldly, their eyes flicking, pupils shrunk. They bared their sharp teeth or gritted their beaks, depending on what they had, and appeared to be waiting for orders.

Rudy gulped as he continued to walk into the arena under the watchful eyes of these zoners. The king had readly thought ahead for this. Perhaps he was concerned that they would succeed in escaping this time, and had taken measures to ensure that didn’t happen. Well the king truly outdid himself this time. Rudy doubted that he and his friends would be able to escape with all this security around them. They wouldn’t get far.

Rudy grunted as the guards pushed him and his friends roughly. He turned to glare at them, but was only meant with a rougher push against his shoulder. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. He tried to keep himself from tripping and falling over. This became difficult when he was pushed again.

His friends protested, and they were met with similar shoves. They were pushed around, knocked forward, struck, whatever to keep them moving. Even just pausing for a second was enough to make the guards shout at them and push them and threaten them.

Eventually, as they neared the center, Rudy could feel his foot get caught in some kind of wedge in the ground. He toppled forward a little, but managed to reorient himself. He lowered his head and panted.

Suddenly, one of the guards grabbed him and pushed him hard into the ground. He could hear his friends call out for him. Rudy could hear them being struck, heard them yelping in pain. He tried to turn his head, but one of the guards immediately stepped on his face, pushing it into the ground. Rudy shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, feeling the dirt pressing hard against his head. He struggled to look up at the zoner, but he could barely see much of anything.

The guard slowly lifted his foot up. Rudy turned his head upwards and stared up at the zoner. There was a broad sneer spreading across his face, a twinkle of what looked to be almost insanity in his eyes. Rudy glared at him, but said nothing.

“Get on your feet, vermin.” The guard said coldly. “Or do you want another meeting with the ground?”

Rudy wanted to say something, but he held his tongue. He bowed his head slightly as he climbed up to his feet. He faced the guard, keeping his head down, hoping that the guard wouldn’t strike him again. Though the guard left him alone physically this time, that didn’t stop him from striking at Rudy mentally.

“Hmph. How pathetic.” The guard said in an amused tone of voice. “You’re such a little maggot. I should push you back into the ground, but I think you just existing as you are is punishment enough.”

Rudy shot him a glare, but the guard only laughed at this.

“Come on.” Said one of the other guards. “Let’s leave them to their fate.”

After Rudy and his friends were uncuffed. Not in a very gentle way either. There were plenty of winces and yelps, and Rudy felt as if the cuffs sliced against his wrists. The guards only laughed at them before they walked away, twirling the cuffs in their hands as they disappeared, this time leaving them completely alone.

Well considering the extra security, it was little wonder that they weren’t needed.

But right now, they weren’t Rudy’s main concern. As he looked all around, back in the same, horrible crowd as before, moving closer to his friends, he knew that they had much bigger things to worry about.

The sound of clopping caught his attention. He whipped his head over. He could see King Zander back on that podium. The sight of the deer-like zoner made his blood boil, his hands clutched into fists. As the king got closer to the mic, he started to wonder what other lies he might spew, and what other propaganda he would fuel to his people.

“I can’t believe we are here again.” Penny said softly. Her body was slightly hunched as she looked around. Her wide eyes practically flashed with images of what happened here the last time. “We were so lucky last time...”

“I don’t think our luck’s run out yet, Buckette.” Snap assured her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Penny looked down at him. “You’ll see. The king might have us trapped, but he’s still far from taking us down.”

Penny smiled at this. “Yeah, I know.” She frowned again, turning her head away. “But how long can we keep this up?”

Now it was Rudy’s turn to try to cheer Penny up. “So long as we remain together, we’ll be fine.” He tried to sound as convincing as he could, but even he wondered how long they’d last. Still, they wouldn’t get far if they remained negative. “And we have Barney on our side now.”

“Yeah...I know.” Said Penny.

Despite what she said, Penny still sounded really worried. In truth, so was Rudy as well. Neither of them had any idea how long this could go on. She was right; they would get worn out if this kept up. They couldn’t keep coming in here and try to survive the arena. They needed some way to get out of here, and fast.

Even with Barney with them, that didn’t really increase their chances of getting out. He just brought him up because he felt that maybe if he reminded Penny they had a little more help, it would help her feel better. He wasn’t really sure how well it worked.

Barney took a few steps towards Penny. Rudy watched him, remaining silent along with Snap. The centipede bit his lip, looking like he wanted to tell Penny something. He opened his mouth to speak, but he soon shut it when there was a loud thump that rang through the air, and feedback that ripped through their heads.

The king had begun to speak.

“My citizens, the next gladiator round shall commense! Our ‘guests’ here may have survived the hippalectryon, but how long do you think they will last? How many rounds do you think they can take? Are you all ready to find out?”

The crowd all around them began to cheer and shriek in excitement. Rudy and his pals cringed at this. They huddled even closer. Somehow, the zoners cheering for them to fight was a lot more terrifying than them calling out for death. These zoners didn’t care about them; they just wanted to see them fight for their lives. The fact that they find all this to be fun was horrifying.

The zoners whistled and shouted at them and at the king, demanding that he release whatever beast upon them so they could see a fight. The citizens were growing restless, some of them looking like they were ready to jump out of their seats and force a fight if they had to. This made Rudy’s heart skip a beat, looking left and right as he half expected some of the citizens to jump down and attack them just to prompt a move from them.

He looked over at his friends. He could see how frightened they were. The sight of this made Rudy clinch his fist at his side in determination. He would ensure that they would find a way out of this. As he looked into their eyes, he could see the same level of determination in their eyes as well. They weren’t going to give up just yet either, even if they did look terrified.

“You want more?!”

The crowd cheered louder and louder as the king egged them on. He was shaking a fist up in the air, deliberatly riling up the crowd to get more excited for the inevitable showdown. His eyes were wide, flashing with something similiar to insanity, just as the guard had before.

As this happened, there was the familiar sound of gates rising up. Low, rumbling, trembling. The trio, along with Barney, turned their heads to look at whatever it was that was going to come towards them. They didn’t see anything yet, but the sight of the glowing eyes was enough to tip them off that they were in big trouble.

“I will give you more!” King Zander called out. A twisted smile grew along his black muzzle, his teeth shining in the light. “Let’s see how our present ‘champions’ do against this next beast! It will not be as easy as last time! Will they hold out, my citizens? Can they hold out?”

“Bring it on!”

“Let’s see them fight again!”

“Start the show! Now!”

Snap narrowed his eyes, growling under his breath. “I’d like to see how much they’d love it if they were the ones here, trying to survive...”

“Well they aren’t here. We are. So let’s focus on ourselves for now.” Barney said, tapping his fingers together nervously. “Whatever it is the king has in store for us...”

“Bring out the manticore!”

All eyes in the colosseum turned to the massive shadow that was coming into the arena. The loud footsteps could be felt. Judging by some of the reactions in the audience, even zoners way up high were able to feel the vibrations.

Rudy and his friends winced with each step. They held their ground, feet firmly planted, as they faced the creature. They all tried to look as brave as they could, but they didn’t know how long this was going to hold out as the creature got closer and closer. The light soon shined upon it, revealing its form. Penny gasped in horror, taking a step back, while Rudy and Barney flinched and Snap held up his fists to prepare to fight, despite looking just as scared as them.

The creature was huge. Its front limbs were as thick as tree trunks, with a huge chest. Its body narrowed and became smaller as it went on, but even the back end was packed with muscle. Its body was covered in brown and light brown fur, with black surrounding the head, which was eerily human-like, save for some non-human characteristics. Pointed ears, long fangs, and an extended mouth to name a few.

A long, red scorpion tail shot out from behind. The segmented tail ended in a horrific-looking stinger, which had some line details on it that indicated that its stinger could be shot. The stinger seemed a perfect compliment to the huge, red bat-like wings, which were spread out, making the creature look bigger. Huge claws started to extend out of its lion-like paws, the tips glinting in the light to show off how sharp they were.

The most surprising feature, which, as Rudy noted to himself, wasn’t a normal quality of the manticore, was the glow. There were several crystal-like structures that jetted out of its body. The shoulders, the back, and hips all had these glowing crystals. As they flashed and alternated, it became apparent that the creature could control the illumination at will.

The beast’s eerily human-like eyes stared down at them, the human-like nostrils flared, and the teeth, razor sharp, were bared. The human-like ears, which had some flexibility, folded back slightly. A low rumble came form its throat, a few ‘pops’ to show just how threatening it was. The fur rose on end, its body rippling with muscle, the scorpion tail swishing from side to side.

Snap took a step back. “That...is one huge kitty cat...” The weak attempt at a joke fell flat as Snap’s voice was lost, fear gripping his mind.

The manticore let out a loud roar, nearly shaking the ground. But instead of charging, it just stood there, pacing back and forth slowly. It was almost like it was thinking, calculating its next move. But Rudy realized this wasn’t the case. His eyes focused on the tail, noticing the way it was moving. He quickly realized what was going to happen.

“Look out!” Rudy cried as he jumped against his friends.

A few seconds later, there was a loud spraying sound, and the hissing of something behind them. They laid on the ground for a few moments. Then, when they worked up the courage, they turned their heads. The sight of what was before them brought several gasps, sickened stomachs, and hands to mouths.

The ground right where they stood had been charred. Burned to a crisp. Blackened. They could see the remnents of green fluid in that spot. It was still eating away at the ground.

The trio and Barney took in several quick, panicked breaths at this. They were unable to turn their eyes away, their bodies shaking in horror. They looked back at the manticore, whose tail was pointed straight at them, the tip threatening to slice them open.

“B-Barney...?” Rudy whispered, leaning his head towards the centipede, speaking through clenched teeth. “Do you have anything on manticores...? How do we stop this thing...?”

Barney fumbled. “Well, let me look it up and...”

Suddenly, the manticore charged forward. Its mouth spread open, far wider than anything human could. It bit down on Barney and lifted him up into the air. It started to shake him hard, its teeth pressing against his skin.

“Barney!” The trio called out.

“Help!” Barney cried as his legs kicked and dangled. “Get me down from here!”

“We’re coming, Barney!” Penny cried out.

“Just hang on!” Shouted Snap.

The trio approached the beast quickly. However, they realized too late that they should have been quieter, as the beast had turned to see them. Before they could react, the manticore kicked them back with one of its hind legs, the foot smashing against them. They screamed as they were tossed to the side.

“Oh come on! You can do better than that!”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Rudy rubbed his head as he picked himself up from the ground. He tried to ignore the chanting as he stared over at the manticore. His eyes narrowed deeply. He believed he had an idea. It was a crazy and stupid idea, but it was all that he had.

Bolting around behind the creature, Rudy soon stumbled upon what he had been hoping to find. A large rock. He grabbed onto it and lifted it up. It was a little heavy and it nearly slipped out of his hands. Holding it against himself with one arm, he pumped his other as he ran towards the front of the manticore.

“Rudy! What are you doing?” Snap called out as he struggled up to his feet. “Wait!”

“Rudy!” Penny hollered. She was now on her feet as she was staggering over to get to him. “I don’t think...!”

Rudy ignored them, his eyes focused on the manticore. Its jaws were still pressing against Barney. Its head was still flinging from side to side as it rapidly shook the centipede in its jaws. The sight of this made his heart clench, especially seeing the terrified look in Barney’s eyes. He couldn’t allow this to continue on any further.

The ten year old boy sucked in a deep breath, preparing for what he was about to do. He took a step forward and, his arm muscles tightening up, he thrust the rock forward, launching it in the air.

The piece of stone whirled through the air, spinning around. It was heading straight towards the beast. The manticore seemed to realize something was happening. It turned its head, its eyes locking onto the rock. Rudy’s own widened when he realized that the change in trajectory would cause the stone to hit something that he didn’t intend.

The beast’s eye.

The manticore immediately shrieked when the rock hit its eye. Its loosened jaws caused Barney to drop onto the ground. The centipede scrambled to get away as the manticore thrashed about, throwing its head from side to side, its uninjured eye wide open in agony.

Rudy felt his body shake at this. This..This wasn’t what he meant to do... He watched, biting his lip nervously, as the manticore continued to howl in pain as it pawed at its eye, trying to get the stone out. Rudy felt compelled to do something to help it, but he never got far with that thought process when the beast suddenly sprayed more acid in their direction. They had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit.

Penny glared at Rudy. “What did you do?!”

“I didn’t mean to do that!” Rudy cried, his hands shaking. “I-I didn’t mean...”

“It doesn’t matter if you meant it or not, because now that beast is a lot angrier than before!” A terrified Snap cried as he stared wide-eyed at the manticore.

Rudy swallowed. “What are we going to do now?”

Penny watched the manticore for a few seconds. She turned to the others. “We have to stay out of its way the best we can. In this state, its attacks are going to be a lot more erratic and random. If we just...”

Penny never got a chance to finish as the manticore came barreling down towards them, having finished pawing at its eye. The one that was struck still twisted, as if it had something in it, and they thought they could see hint of pained tears in that eye. It lowered its head and rammed against Penny, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Penny!” Rudy cried as he reached out towards her.

Barney attempted to go after her, but he quickly realized that he couldn’t fly. “Oh if only my wings weren’t tied up...”

Rudy and Snap stared over at Barney. They were both tempted to try to untie his wings. But that would take too long, and King Zander would sure notice what they were doing. He could decide to rectify the situation by having the insect’s wing ripped off completely.

Thinking fast, the two began to rush towards where Penny was being held by the manticore. Even though neither of them had much of a plan, they both knew they couldn’t wait any longer, and action needed to be taken. As they got closer, they both began to veer off in opposite directions, heading towards opposide ends of the manticore.

Penny was being pushed into the ground by the large creature. Its paw rested against her chest, pressing down on it hard. Its face, the lips pulled back into the snarl, were threatening to chop her head off with a single blow. Penny was managing to keep the beast’s head away from her, but just barely. Her arms were trembling as she was beginning to lose her grip on the beast’s face.

“Hey! Back off! Let her go!” Rudy shouted at the manticore. He could see the beast turn its head slightly. The head didn’t completely turn to face him, but Rudy could still feel part of an eye staring down at him intently. He took in a few shaky breaths, then he started to wave his arms up and down. “I’m the one who struck you in the face! Remember?”

The manticore’s face now faced him completely. Rudy thought he could see a glint of recognition in its eye. The sight of this made his blood run cold. He realized that he might have made a big mistake. But this was the only way to get the beast away from Penny and he wasn’t about to back down now.

“Well, if you want me, come and get me!” Rudy waved his arms as he rushed back. “Come on, you big chicken! Don’t you want to get back at me?”

The manticore let out a low rumble from its throat. The anger seemed to overflow from its eyes as it recognized him as the person who had hurt it earlier. Mistake or not, it was clear that the creature was not going to let him off the hook. Rudy narrowed his eyes and kept his feet firmly planted on the ground. He hunched himself, preparing for the attack.

The manticore looked down at Penny. It seemed to have lost interest in her completely. It swatted her away, knocking her into Snap, who been attempting to move around the beast for a distraction.

As the two laid on the ground and groaned, the manticore took a step towards Rudy. Its eye stared at him intently, narrowed slightly. It continued to bare its teeth at him. Rudy waited for the beast to charge at him, his body poised to jump to one side. But then something different happened that he didn’t expect.

The manticore’s light crystals suddenly light up. A massive glow swept over its body, spreading throughout the arena. The Chalklantians didn’t seem fazed, as if they were used to this light. But Rudy let out a cry of pain from the extra illumination. He turned his head away, covering his face in desperation as he tried to ride out the pain.

He managed to open one eye partially. Though he could see mostly just white and light, he did see a shape, slight shadows, heading straight for him. He could feel the ground beneath him quake as something heavy was coming toward him. Before he had time to react, something large and heavy had struck against him.

Rudy let out a scream as he was toppled across the ground. He heard faint booing and shouting from the zoners in the audience as he laid there, his head spinning. He pushed himself on his hands, holding his head. He looked back, his eyes slowly blinking as the illuminated beast came rushing towards him a second time. Unable to get up fast enough, all Rudy could do was watch.


	13. A Narrow Escape

As soon as her eyes recovered enough, Penny stared in horror as the manticore was racing towards her friend. Rudy was too disoriented by the light to get out of the way in time. The beast’s paw struck at him, sending his body flying off to the side. He laid there in a heap as the beast began to circle him, growling lowly.

The audience all around them were getting disappointed, and started to encourage them to fight harder and more brutally. Penny couldn’t help but feel a cold shiver at this. How in the world these zoners could be entertained by this, she would never know.

There was little time for planning. As soon as she was on her feet, she began to rush towards Rudy, Snap joining her. They moved as quickly as they could, panting heavily as they drew closer to where Rudy was being held down by the manticore.

But they weren’t able to get that close. The beast noticed that they were approaching, and its crystals lit up again. The flash of light shot towards them, forcing them to turn their heads away. They weren’t able to hold back their yelps of pain as they dropped down to their knees, holding their faces. The light seemed to rip right through their eye lids, penetrating their eyes and threatening to burn their corneas and retinas.

Penny looked towards the ground and slowly pulled her fingers away. Even with her eyes mostly closed, it was still as bright as day, even on the ground. It was as if she was facing a piece of tin foil pointed towards the light. She could feel her eyes aching in pain, calling out for her to look for some shade. She recovered them as she tried to ride out the pain.

She was vaguely aware of Snap whimpering next to her. She felt so bad for him. His eyes were much larger than hers, causing him to absorb more of the light faster. She could just imagine him laying on his knees, trying to cope with the pain. She wished she could help him, but she could barely see anything herself. Without the magic chalk...

A scream of pain from Rudy when he was struck again forced Penny to snap out of her thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to be having doubts. She had to do something, and fast. She had no idea where Barney was, or what his present condition had been. And she knew for a fact that Snap wasn’t doing anything. How could he when he was in too much pain to even get up from the ground? She herself was in pain, but...something had to be done. Before Rudy...

“Ahhhh!”

There was another loud slam, and Penny had to flinch when she thought she heard something crack. She was so tempted to turn her head over in that direction and look, only stopping when she reminded herself of the light. She instead called out for Rudy, her voice filled with terror.

“Rudy!”

“B-Bucko...” Snap hissed in pain. Penny could hear him struggling to his feet. “I-I’m coming..I..”

“Snap...” Penny reached out and, after feeling around for her friend, she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “We can’t rush in there blind.”

“Well we can’t just leave Rudy there alone!” Snap cried out in desperation.

Penny knew Snap was right. They had to take action soon. If they didn’t, then Rudy was in huge trouble. They didn’t know how long he was going to last. And with that bright light, he wasn’t going to be able to see well enough to escape, or even fight back. And that loud crunch... Penny wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew it wasn’t anything good.

If they could just block out the light somehow... Wait... That’s it... Penny could feel her mind’s gears turning as she began to realize a plan.

Without delay, she felt around the ground for something that she could use. She could soon feel something on the ground. A long piece of woud left by the hippalectryon. Perfect. She reached up to her left ear and, with some trouble, removed the earing from it. She remembered how her mom didn’t like her getting her ears pierced. Well now such an act was finally paying off.

“Penny...what are you doing? We have to...” Snap started to say.

“I’m working on something!” Penny said to him. “This won’t take long!”

Penny jabbed the sharp tip against the wood, yanking it down, pulling back, and pushing it back in. It took a while, but after several moments of scraping against the weakened wood, Penny managed to make a small hole in it. She repeated the same process on the other side, doing her best to keep it closer to the same size.

Once she was finished, she tied the torn pieces of cloth at the ends, and attached them to her glasses. She made sure they were good and tight. Slowly, she opened up her eyes to see how well they worked.

The light was still intense, however, the makeshift inuit snow goggles had some beneficial effect. With her eyes now having some protection from the light, she was able to make out more details around her, including Snap still on the ground, Barney curling up and trying to fight against the light, and Rudy pinned on the ground by the manticore.

Penny couldn’t help but gasp in horror when she saw that his left arm was bent at an odd angle. This is what had caused the crack before. Unable to wait long enough to make Snap a pair of snow goggles as well, Penny immediately ran towards where Rudy was.

“Penny! Where did you go?!” Snap shouted.

“Stay right there, Snap!” Penny warned him. “Don’t try to move!”

“But...”

“Just do as I say!”

There was no time for uncooperation. Snap had to remain where he was, otherwise he might end up getting in the path of the rampaging and angered manticore. For the time being, Penny was the only one who had any sense of sight in here, so it was up to her to do something.

She stopped several feet away from the manticore and began to pace around it cautiously. The manticore was aware of her presence and uttered a low growl at her. Its focus, however, was largely on Rudy. Penny looked down at the poor boy, noting his injuries. Thankfully, other than the broken arm, there weren’t too many bad injuries on him. Mostly just a couple more bruises and minor scrapes.

But at any moment, she knew that this could change. She could see the look in the beast’s working eye. The intent to kill was there. If she was going to save Rudy, she had to act now.

But how was she going to get the manticore away from Rudy so she could drag him to safety? How would she pull that off with the beast looking at her?

That answer came faster than she had expected.

“Over here!”

Penny turned her head to see Barney standing there. Though his eyes were shut tightly, he was waving his hands around, trying to draw the manticore’s attention. The crowd’s cheers almost seemed to compliment the centipede’s hand waving.

“Nice big juicy bug over here!” Barney shouted. He turned himself around to shake part of his body at the beast, as if to make himself look more appetizing. “Don’t I look delicious? There’s a lot of predatory zoners who would want to eat me! So come on! Get me!”

The manticore stared at Barney for several seconds. Despite the insect’s taunts, the beast didn’t seem to want to go after him. Perhaps it was because it already had prey in its paws, and that being Rudy. And with Rudy already weakened, why would it want to let go and go after prey that was still able to fight back?

However, Penny took advantage of Barney’s distraction. She moved closer to where the manticore was, careful not to give herself away to the creature. Barney seemed to take notice of her and he continued to taunt the beast to keep its attention. Penny soon reached Rudy, dropping down to one knee beside him.

Rudy was still awake, but his eyes were shut tightly. She could see a few tears of pain moving down his face. She could see that he was still twitching in pain, most of it from the break in his arm. She reached down and gently stroked his hair, whispering to him softly to keep him calm.

“Penny...?”

“Shh... I’ll get you out.” Penny spoke softly. When Rudy attempted to speak again, she pressed a couple fingers against his lips. “No, Rudy. Don’t speak. Please..”

Rudy fell silent, but Penny knew that wasn’t going to last long. He was going to soon react to the pain eventually as he was moved. The best she could do was make sure he was as far away from the manticore as possible.

Penny grabbed onto Rudy’s right arm and began to pull him. But she soon realized that this was impractical. The beast’s weight was still pressed upon Rudy and she might end up hurting him more if she continued like this. She would have to make the beast let go. She reached up and she broke off a small piece of wood from her makeshift goggles. She stared it, and then at the beast’s paw. She felt enormous guilt doing this, but what choice did she have?

Mustering up as much strength as she could, as well as courage, Penny struck down on the paw. The thin piece of wood slammed against the space between two of the manticore’s digits.

The manticore immediately reacted with a shriek. It pulled its paw back, staggering backwards. Its paw was lifted from the ground, held to itself as it tried to inspect the damage.

While the beast was distracted, Penny took this chance to grab onto Rudy. She began to pull him carefully away from the creature, trying to put enough space between the two. The dragging was slow as she was trying to be as careful as she could. Despite her best efforts, she wasn’t able to prevent Rudy from feeling jolts of pain, and he let out pain-filled yelps.

She dared to look behind her, noticing that the beast had stopped looking at its injured paw and was looking straight towards her. It swished its scorpion take from side to side. It looked like it was ready to bound towards her, but as soon as it tried, it staggered and stopped. Having only one eye and a front paw that it wouldn’t even place down on the ground anymore hindered it.

But Penny knew she was far from safe. She was soon proven right when the beast’s tail was raised up, aiming right towards her. Penny froze in horror. She looked from Rudy and to the tail and back again. Her mind raced with thoughts as she struggled to figure out what to do.

Should she say and try to protect Rudy, only to get hurt herself, and Rudy possibly get injured anyway?

Or should she leave and save herself, but risk Rudy getting melted by the acid?

What was the best route?

In a split second, companionship won out, and she hunkered down over Rudy. She wrapped her arms around him, using herself as shield to try to protect him the best that she could. She shut her eyes and waited for the blow.

The beast let out a roar, and there was the sound of something starting to stumble backwards. Penny opened up an eye and looked over to see what was going on.

She was shocked to see that Barney had flung himself at the manticore. His long body was wrapped around its neck and part of its body. The beast was trying to snap at him, but Barney was out of range, given the position that he was in. His eyes were shut even tighter, and it didn’t look like the beast could light up further without starting to affect itself. But most importantly, the stinger was of no use; it wouldn’t dare strike unless it wanted to hurt itself.

“Barney?!” Penny cried out in shock.

Barney looked over at the direction of her voice. Even with them closed, she could still see the fear in his eyes. “Penny! I can’t hold on forever!” Barney shouted. The beast attempted to thrust him from its back. Barney struggled to hold on. “Do something! Hurry!”

Penny remained frozen where she was. She tried to think of what she could do. She felt reluctance to leave Rudy, not wanting to leave him vulnerable. But she also didn’t want to sit there and watch Barney get hurtt by this creature.

But what could she do? She didn’t want to keep lamenting on the chalk, but the truth was, they really were weakened without it. She was just as helpless as any of these zoners would be if the beast rounded on them, or if she were in the same situation in the Real World involving a lion or a bear. But...she didn’t want to give up. She couldn’t do that to Barney or to her friends.

She tried to think of something. Looking around, she couldn’t really see anything they could use. Either they were too far away or too small to be of any use. She then turned her attention back to the beast. If they could just find a way to stop that light...

Her eyes widened at this. That’s it. That’s what they would have to do. If they could break the crystales on its back, even if just one or a few, maybe that would disrupt the illumination, allowing Barney to open his eyes and better defend himself. Not just him, but Snap and Rudy as well.

Suddenly, she realized something. That wasn’t going to work. Even if she did get close enough, how was she going to break the crystals? She would need something hard, and there was nothing nearby that could be used. She felt her head starting to ache as she struggled to think of something that could work.

She started to remember something her mother told her about. Her mom had to deal with unruly animals on a regular basis. She obviously wouldn’t, and couldn’t, hurt them, so other methods were instead used. Such methods helped to control the animals without making them feel more frightened. One such method was pressure points.

Well, pressure point might not be the right word for it, but she did still recall what her mother said. There are certain areas on an animal, and on humans, too, that could be manipulated to achieve certain effects. A common one was helplessness and compliance if the head was restrained, and pressure on certain areas of the body could either trigger calmness or nervousness, depending on the species involved.

The one method in particular she was thinking of was a nerve in the neck. Her mother only ever used it once, although it wasn’t on an animal; it was when she was defending herself long before she was born. Her mother never told her the full technique, nor did she explain what happened afterwards, other than she was able to escape. It was as if her mother didn’t want her trying this particular method.

Well if it was powerful enough to save her mom from being mugged by that large, muscular guy, whoever he was, then it might be what she needed to help save her friends.

She looked down at Rudy sadly, biting her lip. She reached down and gripped his shoulder gently. “Stay right here, Rudy. It’s going to be fine.” She turned her head and stared over at Snap. “You remain there, too! I don’t want either of you getting hurt!

“But, Penny... You can’t...”

Penny turned her attention back to Barney. “Hang on, Barney! I’m coming!”

Without hesitation, Penny immediately bolted in the opposite direction the manticore was. She raced towards one of the items she had seen earlier, a long pole that must have broken off earlier from the last fight. She picked it up and held it in her hands. She then turned to where Barney and the manticore were. She braced herself, and then rushed towards them, holding the pole at her side.

sss

Barney wasn’t sure how long he could hang on. The manticore was starting to buck now. Each kick and thrash had more and more energy to it. He could feel his body start to slip a little, his feet kicking in the air. It was a miracle he was even able to still hang on.

He had no idea just what Penny was up to, other than she was going to try to stop the monster. But how was she going to even do that? They had nearly no protection down here, and they were already getting worn out. He wasn’t really sure how much longer they would be able to last. It didn’t help that he didn’t know the monster’s weakness; a byproduct of having his knowledge of Chalklantis disrupted.

He wished he could be of better help to Penny, but he was unable to even see her. He couldn’t tell where she had gone. His eyes were still sealed shut. He couldn’t open them. Not unless he wanted to burn his eyes off. Even with them tightly closed, he could still feel a dull pain in his eyes, making him terrified to unclinch his eye lids, even if they were starting to hurt.

So he did the only thing that he could do. He continued to hang on. He wrapped his body further around the neck of the manticore, his hands gripping its flank tightly. He could feel the hard crystals on either side as he laid between them. He tightened his grip as the manticore thrashed about, snapping its jaws at him. He shuddered as he could feel its breath against his body.

Barney was suddenly aware of being moved around even more. The creature had apparently broke into a run. It started to race around the arena, bobbing its body from one side to the other. Barney could feel the air rush past him. He let out a whimper and held out tighter. He wished he could see. He felt completely useless like this. Blinded, hanging on a larger, more powerful beast, being dragged around, unsure of what was going to happen to him next.

He wasn’t used to situations like this. He was not the type to rush into danger like this. He should have been more prepared. What was he thinking?

Then his mind clicked as something came to his head. He realized that he wasn’t quite as blind as he thought he was. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten about this regarding himself. His antennas... He had never used them in this fashion before. But....maybe he could...

His antennas slowly uncurled. He put his head closer to what he knew was the manticore’s body. He pressed them gingerly against the body. Slowly, he began to move them around, like a normal insect would.

The sensations that washed over his body were hard to describe. He had never experienced something quite like this before. He couldn’t even identify what sense he was feeling. It was like a cross of heat, touch, vibration, whatever else. Just a huge hodge podge of senses all rolled into one, snaking along his antennas and filling his brain with multiple signals.

At first, the senses were so overwhelming that he had to stop. He pulled his antennas back and let his mind rest. Soon, he tried again, placing his antennas gently on the beast once more. He took his time, slowly introducing his brain to these new senses.

But not too slowly. He was starting to lose his grip. If he could use his senses to make his way over to the head, he could cover up the remaining eye and make the beast stop. Hopefully.

Slowly, gradually, the centipede made his way along the beast’s back. He crawled around, using his hands and his antennas to feel his way along the body. He struggled to keep his eyes shut, despite how much they hurt at this point. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to hang on. The manticore was getting more and more desperate at this point. He wasn’t sure how much longer it would take before it got him.

He could feel his back part slip off and dangle. He could hear the snapping of jaws and hot breath getting closer as he tried to nab him. His eyes threatening to widen, he moved faster. His legs kicked in the air, and he managed to land a blow on the nose of the manticore. This only infuriated the manticore more, and he let out a yelp as his body was slammed against what he assumed was the wall of the arena.

Soon, his hands could feel what he could tell were the beast’s ears. He crawled further up, tightening his body around the manticore to try to secure himself in place long enough. He reached down with his hands and he targeted both eyes as he was unsure which one was the undamaged eye. He placed his hands over each eye and he grabbed onto them, holding the eye lids in place.

The manticore immediately scrambled to stop, the loss of its sight confusing it. Barney clenched his teeth as the beast made a rough stop, nearly causing him to fly over the beast’s head. He coughed a few times as dust was kicked up all around him. He wasn’t aware if the audience was saying anything at this point. He was too busy panting heavily to hear anything.

The manticore now stood there, taking in several deep breaths. It seemed really confused, unsure of what to do next. Barney wondered if, at first, he had stopped it. He knew, however, this was unlikely as it was his hands and ‘blinding’ the beast that made it stop. Once he removed them...

Or the beast would just act on its own. It suddenly thrust itself upward, rearing on its hind legs. Barney let out a cry as one of the wings smacked against him, knocking him into the ground. He collided with the ground, skidding along and coughing out the dirt pieces. He attempted to look, only to be blinded by the light again. He covered his eyes and tried to block out the light, curling up on the ground and giving a few trembles.

“Barney! No! Get out of the way!”

Barney wished he could. He tried to get up to his feet, but his legs were too shaky and weak to be of much use. The pain in his eyes was so distracting at this point. He couldn’t see where he was going, and even when he managed to get up, it only lasted for a few seconds before he tripped on something and he fell back down.

His eyes widened underneath their lids when a few of his legs were bent at odd angles. He let out a cry of pain and he grabbed onto one of his legs, gently running his hands over it to inspect the damage.

He could feel the ground vibrating, getting faster and faster, and he knew what was about to come. All he could do was brace himself for the inevitable blow.

But nothing happened.

For a while, it was just silent. He could hear the beast breathing, but not much else. Even the crowd had gone silent. He could hear a few gasps and whispers, but not enough to tell him what happened. Then he felt a rush of relief when the light started to die down rapidly. He could feel a cooling feeling move down his face, as if it was dripping down. Slowly, he dared to open up his eyes and look.

At first, he saw nothing but white. That white, however, rapidly disappeared, and more details came in. Blurry details, slowly sharpening up. Shadows, figures of his friends and the beast. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes as he tried to clear his vision. When it was at last cleared up, he looked to see what had stopped the beast.

“My word...” Barney put a hand to his mouth, his eyes widening. “I...I don’t believe it...”

The manticore itself was laying on the ground. It wasn’t moving. Even its chest was frozen and still. Its mouth hung open, its remaining eye wide as if it had seen something horrifying. Its body had just merely slumped on the ground, its paws crossing each other, tail curved upwards, wings splayed against itself.

Barney stared in shock. Just what had happened? He didn’t even see any blood on the creature. It was just...laying there. As if it suffered a heart attack and...

No. It wasn’t a heart attack that brought down this beast. Barney could see the true culprit before his eyes.

It was Penny.

The ten year old girl was standing over the beast, holding what appeared to be a long pole. There was no blood on it, but somehow, Barney could tell that it had been used on the manticore. Penny wore a horrified expression, and he could see that her face had lost some color. Her mouth had dropped open, her pupils shrunk. She stared at the manticore as she took in several shaky breaths.

Rudy and Snap had taken notice of this as well. They were staring in utter terror, their mouths wide open. They looked at each other, and then back at Penny.

“...Buckette...” Snap whispered.

Rudy licked his lips nervously. “What have you done...?” He asked through his obvious pain.

Penny’s body shook from shock. “I-I...I didn’t mean to...” Penny said softly, her voice cracking. She looked at the pole, and then down at the manticore. “I didn’t mean it...”

It didn’t take long for Barney to realize what had happened. It was a horrifying thought that chilled his blood. He found it hard to comprehend it. But he knew it had happened.

Penny had killed the manticore.

sss

King Zander stared at the spectacle before him. He had been enjoying this round more so than the first one. The fact that they had a new teammate and they were having some increased difficulty with fighting made it even more enjoyable for him. This helplessness was what he had been hoping to see in the first round.

But then something had changed quickly.

They seemed to be getting the upperhand. Even when the manticore turned on its light defense, somehow, they were able to keep themselves together and out of danger. Then that Barney guy wrapped around his manticore, and then Penny had grabbed a pole and...

He was in utter shock when Penny rammed the pole against the throat of the beast. She had struck at its side. A deliberate blow. He could tell because she had took aim before she hit. The king could recall it all clearly in his head.

The pole striking.

The widened eyes.

The attempt of a scream.

Then the convulsion, and a collapse.

A strangled whimper. Then silence.

The manticore that he himself had raised since it was a baby now laid dead on the ground. He couldn’t believe it. His eyes couldn’t leave the unmoving beast. He wanted to believe it wasn’t true. He wanted to think that he was just imagining things.

But no. He knew the truth. His prized manticore was dead. And it was all because of Penny.

His fingers curled against his palm, the fist shaking. His mind burned as rapid, heated thoughts moved through his head. He shot an intense glared down at Penny. His lips pressed firmly against each other as he bit his bottom lip. He wanted to rush down there and wring the girl’s neck. He wanted to condemn them all, kill them and just get it over with.

No. Not yet. The crowd may still want more. He would wait to hear what they had to say first. Then he would decide.

sss

Penny’s mind swirled with thoughts as she stared down at the limp form of the manticore. She could feel her hands trembling. The pole she had used before had dropped to the ground. She took a few steps back, her legs wobbly.

This...this couldn’t be happening... This isn’t what she wanted. This isn’t what she had planned. She shook her head slowly from one side to the other, in complete denial at what happened.

But no amount of denial could make her unsee what was before her. She would not be able to stop hearing the beast’s final gasp of air, its convulsions of pain and death. She would forever have that image stored in her mind, constantly replaying over and ove ragain. This was going to haunt her for a long time, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

She couldn’t understand it. What had gone wrong? She thought she had done it right. Her mother mentioned that one nerve in the neck, and how it could be used to knock someone out if utilized properly. Penny thought she had hit the right area and...

Her blood ran cold. As the threat of being attacked exited her mind, she started to remember a bit more of what her mother had said.

“This is a very dangerous manuever, Penita. I don’t want you using it on anyone or anything. One wrong move will be fatal.”

Penny sucked in a sharp breath, her hands shaking. She stared down at the manticore, then looked at her hands. She curled her fingers inward and shut her eyes tightly. She could feel a few tears start to form. She tried to fight them back, but it was impossible. In a matter of seconds, a series of broken, soft whimpers escaped her throat, tears strolling down her face.

“No...what have I done...?” Penny whispered as she dropped down onto her knees. “What have I done...?”

Penny became vaguely aware of a few figures approaching her. She didn’t need to look to realize that it was her two best friends, along with Barney. She didn’t dare look at them. She didn’t want to see their looks of disgust, anger, and shame towards her.

She could feel her heart feel like it was being ripped in two. She had never meant to kill another living being. She had vowed never to do such a thing. But now, here she stood in front of something that was dead because of her actions. She...She couldn’t...

She could feel a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slowly, hesitantly, until she could see Rudy’s eyes. He was staring at her sadly. There wasn’t at race of anger on his face. Only sorrow and understanding. He was clearly trying to fight against the pain of his injured arm, which hung at his side. Penny stared at him for a moment before turning her head away.

“Buckette...It’s okay.” She heard Snap say. “We...We understand...”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Barney said cautiously. “You were just trying to help.”

Penny would have responded, but she didn’t trust her own mouth. She kept it sealed shut. She refused to look at her friends, the crowd, the king, the manticore. Anything except down. Her eyes stared at the ground as she trembled, trying to cope with what she had done.

However, she didn’t have too long to really think about that before she could hear the crowd starting to chant around her.

“More! More! More!”

“Another round!”

“I want to see her kill again!”

“This is so fitting!”

Penny shuddered at those words. The zoners kept on chanting, both encouraging her to kill again and mocking her for doing so. She felt the intense emotion rise up inside of her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking.

She could hear her friends start to shout back at the audience. She turned her head and looked at them in the corner of her eyes. Barney was positioned closest to her while Rudy and Snap had walked out in front of her, glaring at the Chalklantian zoners in the bleachers all around them.

“How can you say such things?!” Rudy shouted.

“Yeah!” Snap hollered. “What gives you guys the right to be so cruel?!”

“Why are you doing this?! Why are you mocking my friend like that? Why are you wanting us to fight in the arena? Why do you hate us so much?” Rudy’s voice raised in volume. He took a look around, spreading his hands out. “We’ve been told that we should know. But we don’t know! So why don’t you tell us?!”

The audience went silent at this. Penny wondered if Rudy’s words had gotten through to them. Maybe they would start to understand and...

“Oh you want to know what you did...?” Came a deep, growling voice.

Or maybe not.

Penny looked up slowly at where the voice had come from. It wasn’t any of the Chalklantian zoners in the stadium that spoke. That venom-filled voice had come from King Zander. The podium he was on was lowering down towards the ground in the arena, his arms folded behind his back. His cold, angered, yet still somehow tranquil face was staring straight at them, his eyes piercing their souls.

Slowly, he stepped off the podium and he walked towards them slowly. The audience was silent as they watched their king. Penny and the others were unable to move or speak, or even breathe, as the king who had threatened and trapped them all came towards them slowly and deliberately.

Barney took position closer to Penny as he glared at the king. Snap moved a little in front of Rudy as the boy flinched in nervousness due to his broken arm. The king was eyeing it for a moment. Snap, worried that he might take advantage of it, put himself between him and Rudy, holding out his arms protectively.

Penny kept her eyes on the king, watching him when he turned to look at her. He could see the glare in his eyes, how he was looking at her. She could feel her heart skip a beat. She soon managed to glare at him, not wanting to make herself look defenseless in front of him.

The king stopped a couple feet away from them. He regarded them for a few moments, turning his head up and down. Then he curled his lip up and spoke in a growly voice. “I will tell you why...”


	14. To Blame The Savior

"I will tell you why..."

Rudy glared at King Zander as he stood a few feet in front of them. The sound of the king's voice made his body freeze and he found it hard to move anything. Not even the fingers on his right hand. It was as if he was encased in a large piece of ice and the king was watching from his outside icy prison.

He could barely fight back the tension and emotion that was rising up inside of him. His mind was screaming at him to respond in some way. Here the king was. They could capture him and force and deal and...

No, that wasn't like them. He and his friends couldn't do that. Such an act would only further confirm the Chalklantian zoners' opinions on them. If they wanted to prove to them that they were wrong, they would have avoid such acts, no matter how intolerable they might be.

He tried to ignore the pain in his arm. That turned out to be impossible. It thundered through his arm like some sort of parade, traveling up the limb and over his shoulder, and back down again. The pain was intense and stabbing, and felt like someone was constantly pounding on the limb until it broke. He hissed as he felt a shockwave of pain move up suddenly and he tried to clutch his arm. He barely managed to stop himself.

A broken arm. Great, just great. That was all that he needed right now.

And the king knew about his broken arm. He could see the way he was looking at him. Those dark brown eyes moved up and down his broken limb. Rudy tensed up, holding his right arm over his broken left. There was little doubt in his mind that King Zander would use this to his advantage.

At least it was his left arm this time. He still had his artistic skills. But he was still at a disadvantage, and the pain... How long would he last in the arena now?

His thoughts were interrupted when the king's long, tense-filled silence was finally broken. The king cleared his throat, and tapped against the mic that he still held, causing a string of feedback to erupt through the arena. He, Penny, Snap, and Barney tensed up and watched as the king began to make another speech.

"You are responsible for the head deflator disease to strike my beautiful city!" King Zander snarled into the mic. Rudy and his friends looked at each other in confusion. "Many years ago, some of my citizens were struck by this debilitating disease and are no longer with us. I had thought that it was all over, but in recent events, I had discovered the disease had returned. Already a handful of my citizens had perished in this disease, including two of my nobles. I cannot permit this to continue on!"

Amidst the anger-fueled speech that the king was giving, Rudy couldn't help but feel confusion regarding what he was talking about. He looked at his friends, and they seemed confused as well. None of them had ever heard of such a thing before. A head deflator disease? What exactly did that entail?

Looking over at Barney, Rudy noticed that he was fumbling his hands a little nervously. There was little confusion in his eyes. Instead, horrific realization. Barney seemed to know what this disease was. Judging from his reaction, it wasn't anything good. The sight of Barney's expression made Rudy's stomach sting and churn as he started to feel ill. Was this disease as bad as the balloonemia one?

"I knew I had to find a way to stop this dreaded disease. So I took it upon myself to find out what was causing it and where it had come from. After much research, I had found the cause and the culprits. And that would be you, oh Great Creator..."

"What?!" Rudy cried in shock. "But..."

"How can you blame him? He's always helping people! He wouldn't..." Snap stared to say. He was silenced when King Zander rounded on him.

"Yeah, he's helping alright! Helping to bring about a new apocalypse for my people!" King Zander snagged Snap up by his neck and held him in front. Rudy, Penny, and Barney watched in shock as Snap struggled and kicked in the king's grasp. The king was choking him. "And I know that you and the girl there helped him!"

"Snap!" Rudy cried.

"Let him go! Please!" Penny pleaded with him.

King Zander stared at her coldly. "Why should I? You murderer..."

Penny bit her lip nervously, pulling her head back. "Please, I...I didn't mean to..." She shook her head once and glared at him. "You're not going to try to guilt trip me. Now let our friend go!"

King Zander gave a cold chuckle at this. "You forget who you are speaking to." His eyes narrowed dangerously as he tightened his grip, causing Snap to gag. "No one speaks to me orders..."

Penny's eyes widened in horror at this. "Please.."

Rudy took a step forward, ignoring the agonizing pain in his arm the best he could. "Come on! Please spare him! He didn't do anything to you!" He hissed in pain, and felt a pang of growing worry and horror in his stomach as he watched Snap try to pull the king's fingers from his neck. His hands kept slipping. "Come on...we'll do anything... Please let him go..."

Rudy tried to fight back the tears. He tried not to look as desperately broken as he really was. He didn't want the king to have that kind of sick pleasure.

Such a task was futile. He couldn't stop the tears from moving down his face. He couldn't stop his shoulders from shaking. He couldn't turn his eyes away from his struggling friend. He could feel his heart ache and twist as he watched Snap's kicking legs slowly weaken. And the blue color spreading across his face...

"Please let him go!"

"Hmm..." King Zander stood there in silence for a while. The only sound that could be heard was Snap's gagging and struggles to breath. He slowly looked down at the zoner. At this point, Snap looked like he was going to pass out any second. "Well..."

Without warning, King Zander threw Snap into the ground. The zoner laid there in a heap, shakingly holding himself up with one hand while his other pressed against his chest. He coughed and gagged as he struggled to refill his lungs with oxygen.

"Snap!" Penny rushed to Snap's side, grabbing him gently by the arm. "Are you okay?!"

Snap opened his mouth to speak. But only a cracking gag could be made before he went into a coughing fit. Penny stayed there with him, gently rubbing his back.

Rudy stared at this in shock before swinging a glare at the king. "You..."

King Zander raised up his hand. "Not another word out of you, boy. Or do you want me to be more thorough next time?"

Rudy's eyes widened at this. He growled softly, then took a step back and lowered his head.

King Zander smiled slightly at this. "I didn't think so."

Rudy continued to glare at King Zander. He could feel his blood heating up at the way he was treating him and his friends. But there was nothing he could do about it. If he dare try to take a move against him, he would only incur the wrath of the king and his people would surely come to his aid. So he remained quiet.

Rudy looked over at Barney. The centipede had remained quiet the whole time. He never once tried to defend Snap or get the king to let go. The thought of this infuriated Rudy. A part of him wondered if Barney was even a friend at all.

But the expression on his face made Rudy have second thoughts.

Barney still looked horrified by the whole ordeal. But there was something more in his eyes. Rudy soon realized that it was recognition, as if the zoner had experienced this before and...

King Mumbo Jumbo.

Rudy's eyes widened at this. Barney must have been in this situation before with King Mumbo Jumbo. They had taken him from him. They had locked him away as hostage. Barney must have tried to plead for him. And it made things worse. It was no wonder Barney remained silent here.

"Now where was I before I was so rudely interrupted...?" King Zander tapped a finger against his chin. "Oh yes, I remember now." He folded his arms behind his back as he began to circle around the group of four. "After I found out it was you, I had to figure out a plan soon, or else all my people would continue to suffer. It wasn't easy making a decision, I tell you." He stopped. "But then I thought... Why not bring you down here..?"

King Zander looked over his shoulders and stared right at them. His smile came back. Thin, fake, hiding so much negative emotion. "Here, away from your...zoner pals up there, you are helpless. I wouldn't need to fear a retaliation. Then with you isolated, I could make you pay for what you did. I can make you take away the disease that you unleashed, and make sure you are punished for bringing it in the first place."

"We didn't...!" Rudy started to say.

King Zander cried, "Enough of your lies, boy!" He swung his hand downward in a demanding fashion. "I'm sick of it! We're all sick of it! It's bad enough you come from the surface! Where all of our past enemies had come from! But the fact that you are a disgusting, filthy human makes it even worse! Don't put yourself in a deeper hole by denying what you have done!"

The crowd all around began to shout in agreement with the king.

"Yeah! We know what you did!"

"Stop lying to us!"

"Admit the truth!"

"Horrible human! You won't get away with this!"

King Zander raised his hand up. "Silence!" Immediately, the crowd died down. They continued to glare at the group as the king turned to address them again. "I know you get your kicks from spreading chaos and acting like some hero, boy..." Rudy glared at him. "But you should have the decency of at least admitting what you have done..."

Rudy took a step forward. "I didn't do anything."

King Zander's eyes widened at this. Then they narrowed dangerously. "Still fabricating the truth to escape justice, I see. I should have known. You're just like all the other past creators, who always acted like they weren't to blame for the chaos that they wrought!"

"But we're telling the truth." Penny said softly. "Yes, Rudy accidentally caused some problems, but..he didn't meant to! And he always fixed them!"

The king cocked an eyebrow at this. "It sounds more like he's just covering his tracks. Typical creator."

Rudy gritted his teeth, stifling himself. There was little point in arguing with this madman. If he was so hellbent on blaming him for what was going on in his kindgom, then there was little hope of convincing him other wise. The same went for his people. They all followed the king so loyally and agreed with what he was saying about them. He knew none of them would be convinced.

In the end, he and his friends were still trapped here, a slave to their twisted sense of entertainment. Dealing with an allignment of Skrawl, Craniac 4, and Jacko sounded like a vacation compared to ths. At least those three were straightforward about how they were and what they wanted.

Rudy let out a hiss of pain when King Zander suddenly moved in closer to him. His thick fingers grabbed onto his chin and he pushed him back slightly, brushing against his broken arm. He fought back the tears as he glared at the king.

"It is incredible." King Zander tilted his head. "How do you hide such evil behind those eyes of yours? You have such beautiful green eyes.."

Rudy stiffened up at that comment.

"And yet it's all just a mask of hiding how dangerous you really are."

Rudy rubbed his chin when King Zander released him. The king walked away from him, pacing around the group slowly. He and the others watched him carefully, wondering if he was going to make a move towards them. So far, King Zander didn't try to attack, but all that could change in a blink of an eye.

"Now I have a question for you, Rudy." King Zander spoke as he closed in and walked around him only. Bardey chewed his fingers nervously and Penny and Snap looked ready to come over, hesitating only due to the security. "Why don't you tell me exactly where you found the head deflator disease..."

Rudy turned his head to follow the circling zoner. "What?"

"Tell me where the head deflator disease originated. If you relinquish the information, I'll be more than happy to consider letting you and your friends go. If not..." King Zander stood behind Rudy, moving his head until it nearly rested on Rudy's left shoulder. "I cannot guarantee you a mere broken limb will be the worst you'll get. Kairos will see to that."

Rudy shot a horrified glance at his friends. He could feel his blood chilling at the thought of what that bird would do to him and his friends. King Zander was willing to have them killed. And all for a crime that he himself did not commit.

Rudy did have a choice. He could lie and act like he was responsible. He could stop fighting the accusations and roll with them, and then try to help them stop it. Maybe if he did that, even if under the guard of the king himself, maybe the zoners here would at least let them go. He wouldn't mind being banished from here. He and his friends would be fine. They had no intention on coming back to Chalklantis.

But...would that really be fair? He would be convicting himself of something he didn't do. If someone else had released the disease, he would be allowing them to escape. Then something like this could happen again.

Not to mention, he didn't know where it came from or how to stop it. His lie would be exposed soon, and the king would realize this and spread mor slander about him and his friends. He could get the whole kingdom worked up, and he and his friends would be in huge trouble. What would be the odds of escape then?

So he did the only thing he could do.

He told the truth.

"I didn't release any head deflator disease. I had been on many adventures in ChalkZone, and the only epidemic I had ever encountered was balloonemia."

At the mention of this, several zoners began to speak at once. It was easy to tell that they recognized the disease. There were some worried expressions, but nothing too fearful. This made sense considering these zoners lived underwater, so the infla...the tiny red bats couldn't get to them.

Rudy continued, "I am, however, willing to try to put a stop to this epidemic. I found a cure for balloonemia. I can do the same for head deflator. Give me a chance, and I can cure the ones stricken, and I will drive out the disease."

"You can trust him! He will do whatever he can to help you! If you would just give him a chance..." Penny said.

Snap nodded. "He won't rest until that disease is capoot!"

Barney remained silent for a while. He still had that worried look in his face. He still must be suffering flashbacks of what had happened before. That ordeal with the king...it must have been horrible to keep him silent for this long.

But then Barney started to frown a little. He turned to the king and, slowly, he started to walk forward. Rudy watched, feeling impressed that the centipede was going to stand up to the king. That must be taking all the courage that he had left inside of him. Barney's trembling legs were a giveaway that he would rather run off. Yet here he was, walking towards the king, trying to look as brave as he could.

Barney soon positioned himself in front of Rudy. His long body stretched across in front of him, while his front and back arched towards the king. Barney glared at the king for a few moments, his brave face doing little to hide the fear that he was feeling.

"Barney, what are you...?" Penny found herself saying.

"Barney, get back here." Snap said, who kept looking at the king nervously. He rubbed his throat, his eyes flashing with the memory of what had nearly happened to him.

But Barney didn't listen to them. He just focused on the king. The two locked eyes with each other for several moments. The tension that grew in the area was unnerving. Rudy shivered as he felt it close in all around him, threatening to crush him.

Penny and Snap moved closer together. Penny put an arm around Snap protectively as she looked around. The king had said nothing yet, but there was still a chance that he could snap his fingers and cause the guards surrounding them, higher in the arena, to jump down. Their electrical staffs were raised, sparkling menacingly.

"What do you want, insect?" King Zander said. There was a bit of annoyance in his voice. He sounded tired of dealing with Barney, making the trio wonder the full extent of their confrontations. "And be careful of what you say. Your friend is in enough hot water as it is."

Barney flinched at that threat for a moment. "I just wanted to tell you...tell all of you...what Rudy has done for me and the citizens of ChalkZone! When the balloonemia was unleashed, he and his friends resolved to stop it! When he found out he caused it, that only increased his determination to do something about it! He and his friends risked their lives to combat the dreaded disease! Rudy was even going to sacrifice himself to stop the bats!"

This admittance caused some murmuring to spread through the crowd. Rudy wondered if some of this was getting through to them.

Barney spread his hands outward. "I know that you are all angry! But rest assured that Rudy Tabootie and his friends would do whatever they can to stop this! Give them a chance!"

Silence fell upon the arena. None of the Chalklantians were speaking at this point. Their expressions were unreadable. Rudy couldn't tell if they had actually listened or if they were getting tired of 'hearing their lies'. Despite the odds, Rudy quietly hoped that at least some of the zoners were awoken from this nonsense.

King Zander, however, simply stared at Barney with folded arms. His eyes were narrowed softly, part of his lip curled up. Despite looking a bit mad, the king made no move towards the insectoid zoner. He just stared at him as if he was waiting for Barney to be completely done with this speech.

When Barney said no more, the king pulled his head back. He tapped his fingers against his shoulder. His eyes remained narrowed as he contemplated a response of some kind. Everyone watched him cautiously, waiting for him to make his verdict.

"That was a nice speech there." King Zander said, a soft smile stretching across his face. "The boy was certainly...heroic."

Rudy felt a small sense of hope rising inside of him. Could the king finally be starting to see reason?

"Indeed, locking himself inside the temple, and letting him perish due to lack of food... That certainly is quite courageous. Not many people would be willing to do such a thing."

At first, it really was starting to look like the king had gotten some sense knocked into him. It seemed like he was starting to understand that Rudy would love to help people, and that he would be more useful that way, instead of just being punished and destroyed based on what was likely a misunderstanding.

Suddenly, the king's face contorted a little, the smile fading slightly as his head tilted. "However, as much as I love a good story..."

"It's not just a story!" Barney cried. "It's the truth!"

King Zander ignored him. "I'm afraid it's not good enough to alleviate the troublemakers." He folded his arms against his chest. "Accident or not, it was still their fault, and they still must be punished."

Rudy stared at the king in shock, unable to believe what he just said. Was the king still going to punish them even though they were willing to help out? Was he really going to pass up their offer based upon these beliefs that he was sticking by? Just...why was he doing this? It didn't make any sense.

He could feel his blood heating up. He could feel his lips spreading to show his teeth. He could feel his body shaking with emotion. He looked at his friends. Penny looked shocked while Snap looked just as angry as he did regarding what the king had said. And Barney himself as a mixture of both.

Rudy took a few steps forward as he joined Barney at his side. King Zander turned and looked at the boy with some interest. His glare had softened up as he waited for Rudy to speak. He gave a nod of his head, allowing the boy to proceed.

"Don't you think you're being unfair? My friends and I are offering our services." Rudy raised his hand up in the air. "We are offering to sacrifice our time to come down here and aid you all in combating this disease. But you..." Rudy moved his hand towards King Zander. "You're not even willing to give us a chance! How can we prove ourselves and how can the disease be stopped if you think we did it and yet you won't let us lift a finger to help?!"

The zoners in the stadium were starting to see the point. Loud murmurs and statements spread all around as the zoners looked at one another and spoke.

"He does have a good point."

"Why don't we let him clean up his mess?"

"What better punishment could their be than forcing him to own up to his mistakes?"

Rudy smiled at this, looking at the king. The people all around were speaking up, their voices getting louder and louder. While this wasn't a democracy, he knew that the king would have to be swayed a little by the voice of the people. Especially if he wanted to retain any level of loyalty. If he destroyed the ones that could stop this disease...how well would that reflect upon him?

The king looked annoyed by this turn of events. Rudy could see the scowl on his face, his narrowed eyes looked into his. Rudy knew he had the king, and just folded his arms and smirked at him. The king would have no choice but to comply, or risk an uprising from his own people when he deliberately destroyed the one thing that could save the mall from the epidemic.

Soon the king lowered his eyelids and sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth. Rudy could practically feel the energy radiating off of that breath. The king lowered his ears slightly and stared at Rudy, who awaited for his answer.

"Very well then." King Zander said. "I will consider your offer." This was spoken through slightly clenched teeth, and Rudy could detect the hesitation in his voice. King Zander turned his head to the guards. "Escort them back to the cell. I will join them shortly to talk more about this."

Three winged guards came down, their electrical staffs raised. They pointed them at the group.

"All right, let's get going!" A guard snarled.

Rudy gave the king one last look before he followed the guards as they were escorted back to their cages. This time, unlike before, he didn't have that feeling of dread or anger. Instead, he smiled softly, exchanging hopeful looks with his friends. Things were finally starting to look up for them. He was certain that the king would make the right choice, and everything would be straightened out.

sss

As Rudy and his friends were being escorted away, the king glared at them in disgust, his lip raised partially. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this infuriated and offended. The fact that this boy was trying to shirk out of responsibilities was awful enough, but to make his own people turn on him like that...

He narrowed his eyes. He had to think of something that he could do. His next move was crucial. What he did next, he would need to be very careful. He didn't want to look bad in front of his people. He couldn't allow everything to be ruined all because he couldn't control himself.

What was he going to do now? He already knew what he wanted to do, but if he went through with it, his people might question it if word got out. Rudy and his friends would definitely say something in the next arena. His citizens may be more willing to listen to what they had to say then. If he was going to go through with it, he'd need to update his plan a little.

His eyes began to twinkle as a plan started to formulate in his head. His ears flipped upward and a smile spread across his dark-colored muzzle. Yes, that just might work.

He turned his head to look towards a shadow on the wall. He knew very well who it was. He raised his fingers, placed two in his mouth, and whistled.

"Kairos! Come here!"

It only took an instant for the bird to rush towards him. The zoner lowered his head in respect, only cautiously seeking eye contact with him.

"Yes, sire?" Kairos said nervously. "What do you desire?"

King Zander smiled as he took a step closer to Kairos. "I need you to take care of a couple of things for me." Kairos stared at him expectantly. "I did not appreciate the way that centipede stood up to me. I would like you to do something about that."

Kairos gave the slightest hint of a smile. He looked excited, but he managed to contain himself. "Yes. I'll get right on it."

"And one more thing..."

Kairos paused. "Yes?"

"Hand me a piece of the boy's magic chalk." King Zander said. He held out his hand. "I trust that you still have them with you?"

Kairos nodded his head. "But, what do you..."

"Just hand me the chalk." King Zander hissed under his breath.

Kairos did as he was told. He reached into his sash and pulled out a piece of magic chalk. He handed it to the king, who gripped it in his hand. King Zander stared at the piece, his eyes practically glowing with desire.

"Yes..." King Zander lifted the piece up, staring at it intently. "Things are about to get a little more..." He snapped the piece of chalk into two. "Interesting..."

sss

Snap wasn't sure what to think of the situation.

Here they were, back in the cage. Barney was in his own, while he was with his human friends. They had only been in here for a few minutes, already his head was aching from what had happened recently. He wasn't sure if he could relax any time soon.

The king did let them go. Sort of. They were back here. But it seemed as though their speeches they gave had gotten through to some of the zoners. No.. a lot of them. He remembered the looks on their faces. They all had mosty abandoned those aggressive looks. Most of them seemed interested in making them 'clean up their mess' at this point. It was clear to Snap, and to the others, that these zoners cared more about stopping the disease rather than tearing them apart.

But the way the king had looked at them as they left... He could practically see the rage in his eyes. The king did not look happy in the slightest. He wondered if it was because the king was now going to have a tougher time making a decision. The zoners here seem to support him and look up to him, and if he did something that was against what they expected...

Well, he was still the king. Should he even be worried? What could the citizens do? He had all kinds of monsters, or so it seemed, and he had plenty of guards with wicked-looking weapons. Could the citizens really do that much damage?

Well considering they greatly outnumbered them... yes they could.

"I know what you're saying, Bucko.."

Snap stared over at his friend. Rudy looked quite happy and excited about this turn of events. Even though they were still imprisoned, the idea of being used to help stop the disease did sound like a lot better of a fate than gladitorial combat.

But that didn't stop Snap from remaining worried.

"But we should be careful." Snap turned his head and stared down the doors that they had come in from. No use going out that way; a large board on the other side kept the doors shut. "I'm not sure if I like this."

"I have to agree with Snap, Rudy. King Zander hasn't exactly been the most understanding person." Penny looked down at her fumbling hands. "And I did kill that manticore, and he looked angry... And he didn't look happy with well...any of us. Do you really think he is just going to let that go?"

"I know you're still upset about the manticore, Penny. But..." Rudy turned to look at Penny. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, I doubt King Zander is all that upset. He never really shown any sign of caring for these beasts. He was probably just upset that he lost his favorite one."

Snap chimed in. "That doesn't mean that he wouldn't want to get even with her for that."

"True." Rudy admitted. He paused for a moment as he thought about what he was going to say next. He looked back at his friends. "I admit, I'm a little nervous myself. But...guys, what can the king do now? If he tries to hurt us and go back on his word to speak to us, then wouldn't his citizens get upset? Wouldn't they try to do something? They outnumber him."

"You might have a good point. But remember, Rudy." Penny looked at him with a worry-filled expression. "This king has given us very little reason to trust him."

"I know, Penny. I know." Rudy nodded his head slowly in understanding. "But let's not..."

Snap cut him off.

"I know where you are getting at, Rudy. But let me go ahead and offer up this scenario. We all know that Skrawl has those Beanie Boys, right? He rules them. They obey him. But there's a lot more of them and they are strong. But I've never seen a Beanie Boy retaliate. Skrawl has them wrapped around his finger, and he does a lot to abuse them."

Rudy was quiet for a moment. "Where are you getting at, Snap?"

"What I'm saying is... would the citizens even go against the king?" Snap held up his hand in gesture. "Think about it. Your plan relies on the citizens turning against the king. Even if they did get angry, what are the odds of that? They are still 'lower than him', aren't they? Would the king be all that worried? Yes, I can see for a little while, but..what if he hatches a plan to quickly take care of them? Then what?"

Rudy's eyes widened at this. "I..I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" Snap turned his head to one side. "You didn't think that far ahead? Rudy, I would expect myself to rush in without thinking a plan through, but not you."

Rudy narrowed his eyes. "Well, I.."

Suddenly the door opened up.

Penny spoke in a hushed voice. "Someone is coming!"

Snap turned his head towards the source of the sound, where the gate was far up ahead. He could see some shadows forming and stretching. There were a few zoners coming towards them slowly and deliberately.

Snap narrowed his eyes when he saw that it was Kairos and three guards. Kairos himself had a sneer on his face while the three guards wore frowns. They weren't looking at anyone in particular; just staring out ahead as they awaited their orders.

Kairos stood out in front of them, standing about three feet away from the cages. Snap and his friends glared at the bird, while Barney was looking with an air of caution. The bird turned his beak from one side to the other as he regarded them. This time, he carried no flash of sympathy, if what he had shown before had been real sympathy.

"Why are you here?" Rudy asked, clenching his right fist.

Kairos tilted his head. "Oh such anger... But I don't think you should be mad at me." He placed a wing against himself. "I'm not the one who put you in those cages. My king did."

"Yeah, well your king is..." Snap stared to say.

Penny glared at him. "Snap, hush!"

Snap managed to stifle himself. But this wasn't easy. As he glared at the bird, the growing anger inside of him made it harder and harder to keep quiet. Oh the things he would say to this bird if he could get away with it...

"Anyway, I am here on official business." Kairos straightened himself up, an attempt to make himself appear more regal and important. "And as long as you are willing to cooperate, it won't take very long."

Rudy took a step back, staring at the bird with caution. "What did you want?"

"You mean, what did my king want?" Kairos tapped his fingertips together. "He was considering striking a deal with you. You see, he has decided that the gladiatorial combat should still continue."

"What?!" The trio cried.

"But..." Barney said softly. "Didn't he say he was going to think about it first?"

"Yeah!" Snap nearly grabbed the bars before he remembered the electricity. "I heard him say that he was going to consider the idea of having us help him!"

"Yeah? Well, he's decided." Kairos folded his wings. "There's no changing his mind. I'm sorry."

Rudy narrowed his eyes. "Like you're sorry..."

"But why would the king pass up our help? We were going to..." Penny was cut off.

"King Zander has decided it's too big a risk. Besides..there is one way to stop the disease." Kairos lowered his head and stared at them intently. "Destroying those responsible..."

This caused a collection of gasps to spread through the room. They all looked at each other, their eyes wide in horror and shock. They couldn't believe what was happening. Just when they thought things were looking up... Snap knew he was right to be suspicious. He knew that the king would find a way to go back on his word.

King Zander was a filthy coward and a cheapskate. He could have accepted their help and they would have found a non-violent way to take care of this problem. But instead, he opted for the easy way out by destroying them. Regardless if it would work or not, this was still a cowardly way out. He was not willing to consider other ideas. How disgusting...

"More over, he wants you..." Kairos pointed a metal feather at Rudy. "To be the one to tell our citizens the bad news."

"Me?" Rudy asked.

Kairos nodded. "I'm sure the citizens will be quite pleased to hear that the savior won't save them..."

"That's not fair! It's not Rudy who backed down from the deal!" Snap protested. He pointed a founded hand at the bird zoner. "Why doesn't the king just tell them himself?"

"It would make more sense if the king did it. After all, he's the one in charge around here." Penny was trying to keep her voice calm, likely in hopes of not triggering a violent reaction out of Kairos or the guards. "It would look unprofessional if he made someone who wasn't even a citizen, let alone a member of his royal court, to make such an announcement."

Kairos was silent for a moment. He then smiled lightly, raising one wing up, positioned in such a way that the wing blades were verticle, only slightly curving inward. "Yes, well, that's what the king has decided."

Snap growled at this. Not only was the king expecting them to continue with the gladitorial fights, but he was also expecting Rudy to be the one to basically tell the zoners in the audience that the deal didn't pull through, as if it was somehow Rudy's responsibility. But King Zander was the ruler. He should be the one making the announcement, not Rudy.

He was certain that the king was going to use this as more slander against Rudy. He could make it out to look like that Rudy refused or changed his mind, and get the other zoners to turn on him again. He narrowed his eyes deeper. Yeah, that's exactly what was going on. The king just wanted to regain the upperhand by being conniving and manipulating. Even if it means to his own people for this one time.

Barney raised a finger up and cleared his throat nervously. "I know it's not my place to ask, but... Exactly how does the king plan on getting Rudy Tabootie to agree to such a thing?"

"Yeah? What makes you think that I would willingly tell the zoners that I declined the offer?" Rudy asked as he stared intently at the zoner. "How is he going to get me to agree? Why would I want to go through with this?"

Kairos simply stared at them and smiled. A smile spread across his beak, stretching along his face. He didn't say a word at first. He just smiled, his facial expression distrubing the group as they cringed back, turning their heads slightly to the side as if he was going to shoot out laser beams from his eyes.

"I'm so glad you feel that way! Otherwise, it would have been pointless for me to bring them with." Kairos gestured to the boar zoners beside them. "How embarrassing would that have been?"

Snap sucked in a sharp breath. He stared wide eyed at the boars. The sight of them, combined with the words and tone that Kairos displayed made his blood start to chill. Just what was the bird up to...?

His friends looked nervous as well. Rudy and Penny exchanged worried glances. Rudy's frown from before was gone, replaced with confusion and apprehension. He could also see pain, as if the negative emotions were making the agony in his broken arm increase tremendously. Barney was also making a few nervous gestures, his head lowering and his antennas curling up.

"You see, they're a little restless. And they do need the exercise..."

Snap's mind raced at ths. He could feel his breathing increasing as he took a step back. He wasn't liking where this was going. He and his friends move closer together in an instinctual move to protect one another. They kept their feet firmly planted on the ground, staring intently at the squire and the guards. The tension in the room rapidly built up the longer Kairos remained quiet.

Snap slowly managed to narrow his eyes and he bared his teeth. If this guy was going to try to hurt his friends, he would have to deal with him, too. There was no way that he was going to stand idly by and let it happen. And he knew his friends felt the same way. They'd do whatever they could to protect each other.

Kairos seemed to take note of this. He stared at them intently, turning his head to one side. "You three really do care about each other, don't you?"

Snap nodded his head. "You bet we do!"

"And I take it that you will do whatever you can to protect each other?" Asked Kairos.

With a nod of his head, Rudy said, "Yeah! You mess with us, you mess with all of us!"

"How interesting. How noble." Kairos commented, continuing to smile at them, his eyes partially closing. "Such true companionship." He watched them, regarding them with an up and down motion of his head. His eye then shifted to the side for a moment, and he looked back at them. His smile began to broaden. "But I am curious about one thing."

Penny replied in a cautious voice. "What is that?"

Kairos ran his metal feathers along the bottom of his beak and face in a contemplating way. "What about Barney...?"

Eyes widened. Hearts twisted. Gasps were let out. No..he..he wasn't going to...

"He has no one to protect him...now does he...?"

A wave of horror washed through everyone. They remained frozen, unable to move for several moments. Their minds felt like it turned into ice. They could see Kairos, but they couldn't formulate anything to respond to him with. They were just silent, shocked, and horrified.

Barney let out a whimper and cringed back. He remained silent, staring at the bird and the boards in fear. He occasionally looked back at them, as if he was hoping that they would be able to do something to get him out of that mess. Snap wished he could do something to protect him, but they were seperated. Any attempt to help would only result in destruction.

Snap couldn't believe it. Kairos...he was going to... No, he couldn't. That wasn't fair. What did Barney do to deserve that? Why would Kairos do such a thing?

"No!" Rudy cried as he shook his head. "You can't do that!"

"Leave him alone!" Penny joined in. Her eyes were wide like saucers.

"This isn't fair!" Snap snarled at them, his body shaking. "You..you can't just gang up on an innocent zoner like that!"

"Innocent? Bah!" Kairos waved a dismissive hand. "He lost his innocence as soon as he stepped into our land without our permission."

"Please just leave him alone!" Rudy begged him. "I-I'll do anything...! Just leave him and my friends alone!"

Kairos folded his wings in front of him. "That is a tempting offer." He closed his eyes and raised his wing upward, the light glinting. "I am going to have to decline. After all..." He reopened his orange eyes and stared at them intently, a grin spreading across his beak as he watched their horrified expressions. "I did want to make you all beg to simply being trapped..."

Snap held his breath at this. His mind flashed back to when Kairos had first visited them. He had mentioned about being an 'expert on pain' and had made it very clear that he had a very strong opinion regarding getting hurt vs being trapped.

"You're...you're not going to..." Barney backed away from the front of his cell. "Please...I..." He stopped when he realized he was getting too close to the back. He looked behind him, staring in horror at the electrified bars behind him, and then looked back at Kairos. "Can't we talk about this...?"

Kairos simply smiled at him. He turned his head towards the guards. He made a quick flick of his head. "You know what to do..."

"No!"

"Leave him alone!"

"Get back!"

But no matter how many times Snap and his friends pleaded, nothing stopped the boars from opening up the cage and dragging the centipede out of the cage. Barney struggled, jerking himself from side to side as he tried in vain to free himself. But the boars just tightened their grip and twisted his arms, causing him to yelp in pain.

Kairos watched the centipede struggle to escape and chuckle. His eyes trailed along the zoner's body. Then his eyes focused on one part in particular. "...those are some mighty fine wings you have there..."

Barney's eyes widened at this. "N-No...you're not..."

Kairos turned his attention to one of the guards. "You guys earn a little reward. Why don't you... 'play' with him for a little while?"

Before the trio could protest, the guards had immediately went to work. They threw the centipede into the ground. The trio's blood ran cold and their eyes widened in horror as they watched the boar zoners begin to attack Barney's wings. The centipede's screams echoed in the room, with Kairos staring with that cold, icy smile.


	15. Escape

Stubs.

Bloody stubs.

That was all that remained of Barney's wings.

It was hard to believe, but just a few minutes ago, Barney had sported large, long, dragonfly-styled wings. Now they were completely gone, save for a few stubbles and the bulge from where they had connected to his body. Part of his purple vest had been torn around there, exposing the bloody holes.

The trio stared in horror, unable to look away. Their hearts clenched tightly as they stared at Barney's collapsed form. He was slightly curled, his eyes closed. He was awake, and a part of them wished that he wasn't. His collapsed form was shivering constantly, the result of the pain that was dealt to him. Tears formed in his eyes, and he was struggling not to cry. That didn't stop himself from sucking in some shaky breaths.

Standing around him where the three guards who had attacked him. Their hoof hands were held into fists and they scowled down coldly at Barney's trembling form. Their piercing eyes watched him silently. They made no more moves against him.

Kairos, who had been standing there for several moments, looked down upon Barney. His beak was twisted up in a satisfied smile. He walked closer to the fallen zoner. The boar zoners took a few steps back, bowing their heads as Kairos walked passed them.

Kairos stopped in front of Barney. His taloned feet were placed about a foot in front of his head. The sound of the claws tapping was enough to make Barney open up his eyes. He tilted his tear-stained face up and stiffened when his eyes locked onto Kairos's. For several moments, they just stared at each other in silence, Kairos's smile meeting Barney's gaping face.

Kairos then whipped his head to stare over at Rudy, Penny, and Snap. They watched him carefully, their faces contorted in horror and shock of what happened. In the moment, they were too stunned to express any real anger towards him. In this istuation, that was probably for the best.

"I think that is enough for now. I think your little friend here has had enough." Kairos glanced down at Barney quickly. He gave a single, quick chuckle. "Of course... I could be persuaded to continue..." He looked back, noting the increasingly horrified expressions he was being given. "If you disagree with my king's decision."

Rudy's mind was numb. He found it hard to think, hard to breathe. His body wasn't shaking, but he could still somehow feel a rumble rush through it. He stared at Kairos, the cold chilliness of the eyes making him feel rather cold. He wrapped his right arm against himself, trying to get warm. In that moment, he couldn't even feel his broken arm. It was as if his pain receptors had been shut off because his mind was in too much pain from the sight of what happened to Barney.

He had heard Kairos's words, and he could feel the full impact of what they meant strike him. Yet he couldn't get himself to open his mouth to respond. All he could do was breathe shakingly, his mind whirling with memories of the recent events that took place.

Barney... What did he do to deserve this? What did he do to concur the wrath of these zoners...? Rudy wished he could understand their mindset, and at the same time, he wanted nothing to do with them.

But what did remain constant was his reaction to Barney's torture. His eyes fell upon the centipede once more. He watched as the insect zoner continued to shake on the ground, still surrounded by the punks who attacked him. His eyes looked at the small pools of blood on the ground, and the back of his mind kept flashing with horrific memories of what they had done to Barney's wings.

Ripping them.

Stomping them.

Cutting them.

Biting them.

Yanking them.

The boar zoners had really taken their time with Barney's wings. They weren't content in just pulling them out of the sockets. They wanted to completely destroy the wings.

And Barney felt everything... Every blow, every slash, every bite, he could feel them. Rudy knew this because of the screams that the centipede zoner had given, and his pleas for mercy. The boar zoners didn't stop, and they just kept going, completely ignoring Barney's pleads. They only stopped once Kairos spoke up. By this point, the wings were completely shredded, most of them eaten by the boar zoners, save for the stubbles on Barney's shoulders.

"So tell me, what's it going to be? Are you going to cooperate? Or shall I give the guards here some more time to toy with your friend?"

Rudy shivered as Kairos's voice entered his mind. He could feel his blood chill, his eyes bulging at the thought of Barney having to go through something worse. He stammered, "N-No.. Please, don't hurt him anymore."

"Y-Yeah... Back off! He didn't do anything to deserve this!" Snap's voice was filled with terror as he said that. His wide eyes looked straight at Kairos, looking more desperate than he's ever been before. "You've done enough!"

"Oh I know that. But I can't decide..." Kairos rubbed the bottom of his beak thoughtfully. "Perhaps he could use a little more..."

"No..." Barney whimpered softly.

"Please...can't you see he's in too much pain? Can't you see he's terrified?" Penny's sympathetic eyes stared towards Barney. She bit her lip, and Rudy thought he could see the hint of tears forming in her eyes. "Please, Kairos.. Leave him alone."

"We'll do anything. Just leave him alone." Rudy hated the idea of surrendering like this to Kairos, and to his precious king, but he couldn't bear the thought of seeing Barney get more hurt.

Kairos appeared to be regarding what they were saying. He had a contemplative look stretched along his bird-like face. He seemed pretty interested in what they were saying. Whether or not this was the reaction he wanted was difficult to say, however. And the long he was silent, the more tense and worried Rudy and his friends got.

Kairos took another step towards Barney. He partially straddled him, putting his legs on both sides of his body. Then he lowered himself down, bending his legs, his sharp talons digging into the ground so that he wouldn't slip. Barney looked up at the bird zoner in fear. Any attempt to escape would be futile. The sharp blades of the feathers were pointed down towards him, and no matter which way he went, Kairos could slash him open. Out of fear, Barney held still.

"So...what is the decision?" Kairos asked. He tilted his head in an almost owl-like fashion. "Have you decided? Will you be cooperative and do what King Zander has asked of you?"

Rudy took a few quick breaths. He didn't want to become the king's puppet, but he also didn't want Barney to get hurt. He swallowed hard, his lower lip quivering. He looked over at his friends. They tried to comfort him, but even they looked hopeless.

"I'm waiting..."

Rudy gasped as he saw Kairos lower a couple of his blade feathers towards Barney in a clear threat. Rudy took a step forward, waving his hand out in front of him in desperation. "No! Stop!"

Kairos, much to his surprise, stopped. He stared at Rudy with one orange eye. "Well, Rudy Tabootie..?"

"I..." Rudy darted his eyes left and right. He realized he only had one choice in this matter. "A-Alright.. I'll do it." He lowered his head. "Just stop hurting Barney."

"That's a good boy." Kairos said in a tone that was crossed between amusement and satisfaction. The guards exchanged brief, twisted smiles with each other as Rudy, Penny, and Snap glared at them. "I knew you would come to your senses."

"Yeah, yeah... Now will you please get off of Barney?" Snap asked in a stern voice. It was clear he was fighting back the urge to scream at Kairos for what he has done.

Kairos chuckled at this. "Why of course..." He looked down at Barney. "I take it you all will take my little lesson to heart. I'm sure you wished you had remained locked up, don't you, insect?"

Barney shivered, and slowly nodded his head.

"I thought so. Being trapped is like a..vacation compared to this." Kairos lowered himself down even further, almost as if he thought Barney was one large egg. He gently ran his blade-like feathers along his side, careful not to pierce him with his razor sharp edges. "That is why minor offenders are merely locked up. But for those who cross us, something much more...terrifying is in order..."

"Get off of him. Please..." Penny pleaded with him. "We already agreed to your terms! Please leave Barney alone!"

"Yeah! Why are you doing this?" Rudy's breath shook with each word. "I-I thought you said you'd leave him alone if..."

"I am, don't worry." Kairos's beak gritted as a sneer spread across the metallic structure. "I just..want to make sure you got the memo. Pain really is something to truly fear, to worry about, to be terrified of..." He raised his wing off of Barney and he looked at the blades that were his feathers. The light shining off the tips made them look even sharper. "Pain...is a more powerful motivator than anything else. And when properly utilized..."

The trio's eyes widened in horror as the bird zoner splayed his wing straight in the air, several sharp tips pointing towards Barney's back.

"Not even the strongest can resist..."

Realizing what he was going to do, Rudy reached his hand outward and cried, "No! Don't!"

But Kairos didn't listen. In a matter of seconds, he thrust his wing down. Not with a great amount of force, but enough that it took only a second to stick one of his blades into one of the bloody wing stubs.

"Aaaahhhh!" Barney kicked his legs and thrashed on the ground as Kairos began to twist the wing blade inside the hole.

"No! Stop that!" Rudy shouted.

"Stop! Please!" Penny yelled at the bird zoner.

Snap's fists trembled at his sides. "Let him go!"

Kairos smiled as he pulled his blade out. He looked at the blood that was caked on it. He shook it once, and then he looked back at Rudy and the others. There was a tense silence for a few seconds. Then Kairos gave a satisfied chuckle and he got off of Barney.

"Put him back in his cage." Kairos ordered. "We're finished here."

The three guards grabbed onto Barney roughly. They yanked him up, uncaring of how much they were hurting him. The trio's protests against this were met with silence as the guards dragged him back towards the cage. They threw him inside and locked the door up.

They then returned to Kairos's side. They stared at him as they waited for their next orders. Kairos simply thrust his head to one side. The guards got the message right away and they began to walk away from the cages.

Kairos watched them leave for a moment before he turned his attention back to the trio. "I am so glad that we are now seeing eye to eye. I'm sure that, after this, we are all going to get along just fine..." He tapped the tips of his wing blades together as he stared at the angered trio. He gave a few quick chuckles. "I will leave you alone for now. I'm sure you will want some time to..think." His orange eyes looked at Rudy's arm. He gave a slight scowl. "And do try to do something about your arm, boy. You won't be of much entertainment if you are constantly nursing your arm in combat."

Rudy gritted his teeth at this. "You.."

Penny growled, "You're sick..."

Kairos gave a small laugh at this, but made no response. He simply turned around and walked away. Soon, he was completely out of sight, leaving the trio alone. In that moment, they were glad that he was gone.

Anger rose inside of their chests and stomachs. They could feel the heat begin to burn their internal organs. They could feel it threaten to seep through, charring them from the inside out. Many thoughts descended upon them in a rapid fashion, and their bodies gave a few emotion-filled shakes.

Of all the horrible, rotten things... None of the past villains they dealt with were as bad as Kairos and that lousy king of his. Kairos had deliberately targeted Barney for being the only one locked in his own cage. Barney was defenseless, and he had taken full advantage of that. He had tortured Barney before them, all just to show them his sick, twisted point.

Rudy slowly turned his head towards Barney. Though the anger still burned inside of him, he could start to feel nausea and sickness as sorrow and guilt began to creep into the back of his mind. He watched Barney whimpering and shivering on the ground, and he couldn't help but wonder if he was partly to blame. If he had answered Kairos sooner, would he have ceased his attack faster?

No... Somehow, he doubted that. Kairos was a sick, twisted fiend with an obsession with pain. No matter how quickly he agreed to the king's terms, Kairos still would have hurt Barney anyway. There was literally nothing that he could have done to prevent it.

He still wished he could have done something. Poor Barney... He didn't deserve to have something like this happen to him. He had never hurt anyone, and yet Kairos...

He tried his best to push his thoughts of that horrible zoner aside. For now, he needed to focus on Barney.

"It's okay, Barney. Shh..." Penny whispered as she got as close to the electrified bars as she could. "It's going to be all right. You'll see.."

"Yeah, buddy. Hang in there." Snap looked at Barney sadly.

Rudy nodded his head slowly. "We will find a way to get out of here. We'll free your friend. And we will all escape together. I promise."

Despite their attempts to comfort him, Barney didn't appear to be responding. His body just curled up tighter and his crying increased. They kept telling him comforting things as he shivered and cried. They kept doing whatever they could to try to calm him down.

The sight of this broke their hearts. They had never seen Barney so broken up before. They wished they could do something about the pain he was in. They wanted to reach over towards the cage and mend those wounds. They wanted to do something to help him feel better. But trapped in this cage, all they could do was try to help Barney mentally.

Then, finally, after many minutes had passed, Barney's crying started to subside. He sniffled and wiped his eyes as the tears slowly stopped. His breathing became shaky and dry, and it was clear that the main reason he stopped was because he couldn't cry anymore. He soon just laid there on the ground in a heap, his eyes staring out into nothingness. He was utterly exhausted, and now had little strength to do much of anything.

Although the silence was a little welcoming, it did little to cheer the trio up. If anything, the silence only made them feel worse as they stared at Barney's still shaking form. Their eyes couldn't leave the horrible bloody holes on his back. They were etched in the back of their minds, making them feel even more horrible that they couldn't do anything.

Rudy could feel a torrent of emotion rush through him. He looked down at his right hand, which was trembling. He formed a tight fist with it. He looked at his friends. Snap was looking at Barney, while Penny was eyeing Rudy sympathetically. The emotion welled up inside more and soon he couldn't holding it in any longer. Rudy dropped down onto his knees and slammed his fist against the ground. This caused his friends to jerk and stare at him in shock.

Rudy wanted to shout. He wanted to rant. He wanted to say something. But all he could do was allow his emotions to get the better of him, and he began to shed his own tears of bitter, anger, and sorrow.

Penny knelt down beside him and stroked his hair gently. Rudy looked up at her, seeing into her sad-filled eyes. He shut his eyes and he turned his head away. Unable to say or do anything else, he let out his own series of cries, joining in with Barney.

"It will be okay, Rudy." Penny whispered to him. "It will be all right.."

"Yeah, Bucko. We'll all get out of here." Snap tried to comfort him.

Rudy wanted to believe them. He wanted to get back up and start making plans for escape. But for the time being, he was too wrapped up in his own emotions to do much of anything. All he could do was cry, releasing all his emotions with each shaky breath and crack of the voice.

sss

Rudy wasn't sure how much time had passed since Kairos had left them. He didn't know how long he had been crying. He didn't know how long his friends had tried to comfort him and Barney. What he was aware of was that he was finally stopping, becoming relax and tranquil... well compared to how he was before.

His mind was still stinging from what had happened. His emotions were still swirling inside of his head. He rubbed it gently, struggling to fight back against them. Unlike earlier, this time, he managed to keep himself as relaxed as possible. He did his best to keep his emotions in check. Right now, they had an important mission to take care of.

They needed to get out of here. He had told himself this time and again. Despite the fact that they hadn't figured out a way just yet, he didn't want to give up. They were alone now. This was the perfect chance to discuss an escape plan.

Especially with what happened to Barney... That increased Rudy's desire to leave this wretched place.

Rudy couldn't believe that he had ever wanted to come here. He had envisioned Chalklantis to be a wonderous, beautiful place that he and his friends could explore and study. Well it was beautiful all right... But his thoughts of understanding, even regal zoners turned out to be false. Instead, he and his friends were dealing with zoners that were either ignorant, insane, or outright monstrous. As soon as they escape and return back to the surface, he knew exactly what he was going to do.

Send a warning to all the top side zoners to stay away from Chalklantis.

"Did you guys think of any way we can escape?" Rudy asked softly. His voice still had a slight tremble to it.

"No. We're still in the same boat as before." Penny grumbled softly. She had her arms wrapped around her legs. "We can't get out of these cages. Metal floor, electrified bars. We can't escape when the guards are here. We can't escape in the arena because of...well you know why." Penny looked over at Rudy sadly. "I just..can't see a way out..."

"Neither can I." Snap was pacing back and forth. His eyes were narrowed, and it looked as if he had some kind of headache. Likely from thinking too much and too hard. "If there is a way out, I can't think of anything." He casted Rudy a regretful look. "I'm sorry, Rudy."

"Well, I refuse to give up." Rudy pushed himself up with his unbroken arm. "There has to be a way to...Yaah!" Rudy yelped in pain as he accidentally hit his broken arm. He stiffened himself, hissing in pain. "Darn it..."

"Rudy..." Penny whispered as she moved towards him. "Your arm..."

Rudy looked down at it. He shut his eyes and turned his head away. "I'll have to deal with it later. Nothing we can do about it." This was the truth. They had nothing that could help support his arm, nor did they have anything to deal with the pain. He'd have to just endure the pain for now. He looked out towards the door where Kairos disappeared from, narrowing his eyes. "We need to focus on getting out of here."

"But Rudy... how are we going to do that?" Penny held her hands at her sides. "I don't want to give up either, but face it, Rudy. We haven't figured out any solid plan of escape. The king and his squire had figured out everything!"

Rudy shook his head. "I'm sure they haven't figured out everything, Penny." He looked upwards. "There is always a backdoor somewhere. There is always a loop hole." He looked back towards Penny. "We just need to find it."

Penny stared at him, and nodded her head slowly. "Perhaps you are right, Rudy." She paused for a moment, biting her lip nervously. "But we don't have a lot of time. If there is a way...we need to find it fast. If we don't..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't need to speak for everyone to know what she was going to say.

"Yeah.. And then there's your parents and..." Snap suddenly shut his mouth when he said that. His eyes widened in realization. "Your parents..."

Rudy stared at Snap in shock. He heard Penny give a sharp gasp. He looked over at her. The two of them exchanged looks of horror with each other as the realization began to rapidly sink in.

Their parents... How could they have forgotten about them? They don't remember how long they had been gone. It could have been several hours by this point. The field trip cover... It wasn't going to last much longer at this point. Pretty soon, Mr. Wilter was going to return the class to school, and Rudy and Penny had to get back to the library where Penny's mom was going to pick them up. If they weren't there...

It wouldn't take much longer for their parents to realize that they had lied to them. When they don't show up after the field trip, they are going to call the school. They are going to talk to the principal about their kids and ask where they are. Their parents would then be informed that their children called in sick, and their lies would be exposed.

But as worried as Rudy was about their parents being enraged with them, he knew that, in their situation, they had a lot more to be worried about than being grounded or scolded by their parents. If they didn't get out of there soon, they would suffer from more problems than just getting yelled at.

They could die.

Rudy stiffened up at that thought. What made it worse is that their parents wouldn't know what happened to them. They would live on the rest of their years never knowing what happened to their beloved children. He couldn't let that happen.

But despite his determination, he had no idea how they were going to get out of here. He had no plan. No ideas. Nothing. Despite his talk of loopholes, he himself couldn't figure any out. If he had a piece of magic chalk, just one tiny little piece, he might be able to draw a quick something that could get them out of here.

But how was he kidding? What were the chances that they'd stumble upon any magic chalk? King Zander would have locked it away somewhere. It would be heavily guarded. The king would do anything to make sure that he and Penny didn't get anywhere near it.

He let out a defeated sigh and slumped onto the ground. He crossed his legs over each other and lowered his head down. He stared at the ground for a few moments, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. He looked up at his friends, who stared at him sadly. He then looked over at Barney. His heart ached at the sight of the shaking form of Barney, who was still in pain from his horrific attack. Rudy then rested his chin on his good arm, against his legs, and let out another sigh.

He realized that they would have to start thinking outside the box. There had to be another method of escape that they could use. Or...no, he couldn't think of anything else that they could do. He had already gone through the different ideas.

Perhaps the best thing to do was wait. He had heard before that sometimes the best strategy was to just wait and see what'll happen. Who knows? Maybe an opportunity would present itself in a way that he didn't imagine. Maybe...

"Ow!"

Rudy flipped his head up when he heard Barney yelp. His heart pounding and fearing the worst, he looked over at his insectoid friend to see what was going on. To his relief, Kairos wasn't back, but Barney had a bit of a pained look on his eyes.

"Barney, what happened?" Rudy asked.

Snap looked at the zoner up and down. "Did you step on something?"

Barney nodded his head. "I seemed to have rolled onto something." He gritted his teeth as he rubbed his side carefully. "I think it's stuck to me."

Penny flinched at this. "I hope it's not anything sharp. If you got any of the metal inside of you..."

Barney nodded his head as he continued to search for the item. "I'm aware."

Rudy and his friends watched, worry in their eyes, as Barney struggled to find the shard of...whatever that he rolled on. From the sound of his voice, he did seem a little better than he was before, but if he were to get an infection from metal...

It didn't take Barney too long to find the item in question. He pulled it out from his side and held it up in his hands. There was a collection of gasps when they saw what it was.

A piece of magic chalk.

Rudy stared at it, his mouth dropping open. He didn't think it was possible. No...that was too big of a coincidence. It couldn't be... He rubbed his eyes a few times. Maybe his anger from before was messing with his mind a little. After a few moments of rubbing them furiously, he looked again.

But the piece of chalk still remained. He knew it was magic chalk, given away by the sparks that flew from it. Barney kept it squeezed between his fingers as he stared at it in shock, turning it from one side to the other, examining it. The piece of chalk was small, way less than half. It was close to the size that he was reduced to when Penny pretended to be Skrawl's 'chalk queen'. But...it would still be enough for...

"Hey, Barney!" Rudy held out his hand against the ground, between one of the larger openings of the cage's bars. "Can you try to roll that to me?"

Barney looked at it. "Are you sure? Is this going to be enough for an escape?"

"Trust me! It will be!" Rudy moved in a little closer. "Please toss it to me!"

Snap and Penny looked at Rudy with an expression of curiosity.

"You got a plan, Bucko?" Asked Snap.

"Yes." Said Rudy.

"I hope you know what you are going to draw with that. With how little you have..." Penny grimaced as she looked back at the tiny piece of chalk. "Just one mistake and it's over. Every line and detail you make will need to be precise."

Rudy understood this. It was just like back at the Chalk Queen incident. He had to be fast and accurate when he draw the milk to save Snap with. This situation was going to be tougher than that, as he didn't know yet exactly what he was going to draw. But he was certain that, as soon as he got the chalk, he would think of something.

Barney moved closer towards the side of his cage. He stopped when his face nearly collided with the electrified bars. He placed the chalk on the ground and nudged it between the hole. He then pulled his finger back and flicked it, hitting the chalk and letting it roll.

The magic chalk stopped about halfway through. Penny let out a disappointed sigh while Snap slapped himself in the face. Rudy looked down, biting his lip. He couldn't reach his hand over, and while Barney's hands were more nimble than his, there was no way that he could grab it himself.

Luckily, Barney seemed to have a plan. He sucked in a deep breath and he blew on the chalk as hard as he could. It wobbled a little bit.

"Keep it up!" Penny told him excitedly. "It's working!"

Again and again, Barney blew, his breath hitting against the chalk and making it roll a little. Progress was slow, but steadily, it was getting closer and closer to Rudy's grasp. Soon the chalk nearly touched the electrified cage.

Rudy stared at the chalk. Now came the delicate manuevering. His fingers may fit through the holes, but there was barely any room to manuever them. If he moved too close to either side, he was going to get electrocuted.

"Be careful, Rudy..." Snap whispered. His eyes widened as he brought a hand towards his mouth. "Those things look like they're really going to sting."

Rudy carefully moved his finger closer to the hole. Doing this without support of his other arm was hard, even with the support of his leg. He moved nice and slowly, and soon began to ease his finger through the hole and towards the magic chalk. He bit his tongue in determination as he wrapped his finger around the chalk. He soon started to drag it back in.

It took a while, and the progress was even closer than before. But soon he started to move his finger back into the cage, holding the tiny, broken piece of magic chalk with him. He moved himself back a little, away from the electrified bars, and he lifted up the piece, wrapped tightly inside his finger.

"You did it, Rudy!" Penny said in excitement.

"Yeah!" Snap jumped up with enthusiasm. "Nice chalkin'!"

Rudy felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders as he stared down at the piece of chalk. It felt almost like a dream. A part of him couldn't believe that this was really happening. He was tempted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming or not.

Here, in his hands, at last, he had a small piece of magic chalk. It wasn't much, but he knew even just a little bit was going to make a huge difference. He raised the tiny piece of chalk and then...

He did nothing. He realized he still hadn't thought of what he was going to draw. He frowned deeply as he looked downward, trying to think of what he could draw.

"Rudy? What's wrong? Why aren't you drawing?" Penny looked at him in confusion.

Snap tilted his head to one side. "I thought you said you had an idea."

"Well, I..."

Rudy's voice trailed off when something came to his mind. He looked towards the ground for a few moments. He then glanced at the piece of magic chalk. An idea quickly formulated in his head. Without thinking, he began to quickly sketch something.

Soon he was finished. He used up the last bit of that chalk. He felt a wave of helplessness again. Thankfully, it was fleeting as he stared at the device that he was sure would get them out of there.

"A thing of lipstick?" Snap asked, sounding disappointed. "Rudy, I know that it's your life and your decisions, but now isn't the time for..."

Penny nudged him gently, glaring at him. "That's not lipstick, Snap. It's a laser."

Snap's eyes brightened at this. "A laser, eh?" He looked back at Rudy, his eyes focusing on what he thought had been lipstick. "You going to blast our way out of here, Bucko?"

Rudy stared at the long, wide piece of metal that he had drawn. One end attached to a rounded piece with a hole in it. A button turned it on and off. It wasn't as big as he hoped it would be, but for what it was, it should do the trick just fine.

He looked down at the ground. He tried to figure out which way would be the best. He didn't want to use this up completely too fast, nor did he want to cause too much noise to draw in the guards. He then looked over at where Barney was. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before turning his head to Penny.

"How many steps to Barney's cave?"

Penny took a few steps forward. She looked over at where Barney's cage was. She looked from the space where Barney stood, and then trailed her eyes downward towards their cage. After a moment, she looked at Rudy. "I would say about ten steps."

That sounded right. The cage used to be closer, but it had been moved back a little sometime during when they were fighting the manticore. Probably as a way to keep them from helping each other or something. With a number in his head, Rudy began to go to work.

He pointed the laser down towards the ground and pushed the button. A powerful, heated red line shot out. The sound of scraping could be hard, making him flinch and his friends cover their ears. He began to slowly turn the laser around, and soon a circle was formed. Steam rose up from the charged, black lines where he had used the laser. He waited a few seconds, and then he slammed his foot against the hole. The piece gave way immediately and fell down, creating a loud clang.

"Ow... Rudy, you outta be careful with that!" Snap rubbed his ear for a few seconds. He motioned towards Rudy. "Someone might hear you!"

Rudy nodded his head in understanding. He would have told Snap that some noise may be unavoidable, but there was no time to explain that. The guards could come back at any moment.

Working fast, he jumped down into the underground section. He was now about two feet down, the shade of the dirt making him feel cooler than he had been up there. He was about to move towards Barney until he realized he didn't remember where he was. He looked up at where Penny and Snap were. They pointed their hands in the direction. He thanked them and immediately went off.

After counting ten steps, Rudy looked up at the rocky ceiling above him. He gave a hollar for Barney to make sure he stayed out of the way while he cut a hole. Rudy raised up the laser and took aim, then fired. Just like before, the red glowy line sliced through the earth and metal. Soon, another hole was created. It fell down with a single shove from Barney. Rudy jumped back as the circular piece crashed down in front of him.

"Come on!" Rudy motioned with his right hand. "Let's get going!"

Snap sat down on the edge of the hole, his feet dangling. He hesitated for a second, and then pushed himself off, dropping down to the ground. He let out a grunt as he collided with the dirty ground, coughing a few times. A few seconds later, Penny joined in, landing on top of Snap.

"I see I've been promoted to an emergency catcher." Snap's strained voice said.

"Oh, sorry, Snap." Penny climbed up to her feet. She grabbed Snap's arm and helped him up.

Rudy looked up towards Barney. "Come on down!"

Barney looked down the hole. He hesitated, biting his lip nervously. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Rudy shrugged. "No place here is safe! But wouldn't you rather be out of that cage?"

"Well.." Barney looked left and right. "You do have a good point there." He looked down, again judging the distance. "Okay...here I come."

Barney jumped down. He had to keep himself moving forward so that the rest of his parts would come through. It took him longer to get down, but soon he was underneath the ground with the two humans and humanoid zoner.

The group took a moment to look up, briefly reflecting on their former captivity. They then began to look around, trying to figure out which way would be the best to go.

Penny tapped her finger thoughtfully. "Well, if our cages were here..." She moved her fingers around in front of her face as she tried to mentally draw herself a map. "And the building itself was here..." She turned in one direction. "Then that means the palace is over there. And...Kairos..." She shuddered at the mention of that word. "..led us this way..." She turned in another direction. "I think we need to go this way."

"You think? Or you know?" Snap raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, it's hard to tell when we're underground." Penny said regretfully. "But I'm certain that this direction will take us to where we need to go."

"What if it leads us to somewhere worse?" Snap asked, putting his hands on our hips. "We don't need anymore d..."

"We need to choose a direction, and fast!" Barney chimed in. "Who knows when they'll..."

Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps. They froze immediately. It must be one of the guards.

Rudy looked at where Penny had indicated. "Okay, over here it is!" He rushed over and he quickly began to cut open a path for them to use.

sss

Cyd growled to himself as he carried the small bags of food. He licked along his broken tusk, feeling the bumpiness from where it was broken off many years ago. He twitched his ear once in irritation. The boar zoner didn't know why he had to be the one to bring the food to these criminals. Why couldn't his brother Orion do it instead?

Oh well, there was no way he was getting out of it. Besides, it wasn't like they had to deal with these creators for long. The king did seem to have a plan for them, and he had promised earlier that they would be dealt with in due time.

He looked forward to it. Although he would have liked to participate, just watching it would be good enough. Even though Rudy had promised to help find a cure for the head deflator, Cyd still believed that he should get his comeuppance. He was certain that King Zander already had a plan for what to do with him afterwards. He was excited to see it.

But for now, he would have to deal with them on his own. He would have to deal with listening to them beg and plead to escape, to get away from the justice that they deserved. He clenched his teeth, his mind racing and his blood boiling at the memory of what they had said before. Of course they would try to deny their involvement, and try to squirm their way out of punishment. They were so disgusting.

Oh well, at least he could rest assured that the king would give them what they deserved. The king had never let them down before. He deal with these criminals, the disease would be stopped, and they would all be safe again.

"All right you four.." Cyd said as he neared the cages. "Time for you..."

He froze, his eyes bulging at what he saw. Or rather, what he didn't see.

The cages...they...they were empty...

Cyd's heart pounded against his chest. No, that wasn't possible. They couldn't have... Maybe he just wasn't looking hard enough. As absurd as that sounded, he found himself moving in closer, moving his head from one side to the other as he examined the cages.

Then he noticed something about the ground. He could see some bit of steam rising up. It was faint, and almost vanished. But still there. He leaned his head closer, careful not to touch the electrified bars. It took him a few moments for his mind to register what had happened.

They had escaped. He didn't know how. He didn't know what could have happened. But no matter what had occurred, the end result was the same. The group had escaped.

Cyd remained frozen there as he tried to think of what he should do. Should he go after them himself? Should he move the cages out of the way to gain access to the holes and follow them? This may help him gain on them faster and...

But what if Rudy was armed? What if they manage to defeat him and leave him tied up somewhere, or even destroy him, while they leave? If he is dealt with, then no one was going to know the prisoners escaped. Then who knows what they'll do to his people, or what kind of chaos they were going to bring.

And the king... What would he think if he found out that he knew they escaped, but tried it upon himself to do something? Especially without an order? It didn't take a genius to know that King Zander wasn't going to be pleased with him.

And he would still be more merciful than Kairos... He gave a shudder at the thought of that squire.

That left him with only one option. He narrowed his eyes, realizing what he needed to do.

He broke off into a run to alert the king.


	16. Heading Out

Where were they now? At this point, it was difficult to say. No... Impossible. They were deep in the ground with no light source outside of a very faint glow of the rocks here, and Rudy’s laser. The only way to know was to go up to the surface, but that was too big of a risk right now.

None of them remembered how long they had been walking. It almost felt like hours, but they were certain that was just an exaggeration.

Nonetheless, they had to keep moving. They had already delayed enough time when Rudy had to seal up the opening in order to make it harder for them to follow. The guard that came in would have surely noticed them missing and come after them. Or perhaps tell King Zander and the were would be a whole search party coming after them. This caused Rudy and the others to periodically seal up the path they were presently in in order to buy them some time

But how long would it hold? None of them knew for certain. Even if they did manage to get far away, they were still in enemy territory. If they weren’t careful, they were all in huge trouble. Most definitely the king would have spread word about them, and most of the citizens would know they were here, not just the ones in the city.

How would they react if they ran into them? There could be a variety of reactions. Some might be more understanding and disagree with the king. But as they had seen in the arena, most seemed to side with King Zander. They might report them or try to capture them.

Out of all of them, Rudy was in the most danger of being caught. He presently only had one working arm. The other was broken, and it was still causing him pain and distress. The zoners could take advantage of this and congregate around him. Rudy was going to need to stick close to his friends in order to keep himself from being singled out.

Barney had mentioned something about possibly having a map still stored on his system somewhere, but it would take him a while to find it. Sadly, said map would be out of date if he did have it, so it may not be too useful. Still, it was better than nothign. As they walked along the tunnel, Barney kept himself preoccupied by searching through the database inside of his body pods.

Walking through the tunnel with little light hadn’t been easy. There had been several times when one of them would trip and nearly fall. The ground wasn’t exactly cut smoothly by the laser, nor did it keep the ground from getting moist. Penny found this out the hard way when she stopped on nearly formed ground, only to immediately slip and fall onto her back. Snap helped her back to her feet quickly while making some kind of playful jab.

The process of cutting the tunnels was pretty slow. Rudy had been doing his best to cut quickly, which meant making the tunnel pretty thin and rocky. It was quite often that they would bump into the wall with their shoulders, or hit her foot against one of the turns that Rudy decided to make. They had to form a single file line in order to walk in the tunnel together. Barney himself was unable to turn around and was vulnerable to an attack from behind.

This had encouraged Rudy to work faster and he started to pick up the pace a little. He had tried to keep going straight, but going in different directions works out better, as it would confuse their pursuers more. If they went in just a straight line, then all King Zander would have to do is look at the map of his place, find where their line exits out, and meet them there. The zigzagging, on the other hand, would help prevent this and make it harder for them to find where they were.

Unfortunately, this meant making things harder for themselves. They discussed along the way how they were going to figure out where they were. They didn’t want to go to the edge and end up washed back. The only thing they would do to try to prevent that was to keep an eye on the rocks themselves and ese if there’s any profuse dripping. But even this might not be good enough.

Eventually, Penny decided that they were going to need to stop and think of a plan. There was no sign of danger. No sound. No vibrations. Nothing. They all gathered as close as they could together and spoke of what they could do.

One option was going up. This was tricky and none of them were too willing to do that. They might end up in someone’s house or in the middle of the street. It was possible that they could be very careful about it and just create a small opening, but that would still be tricky. Some zoner might still see it and want to investigate. If they were spotted...

Another option was just to keep going until they found lower land. Penny believed tha they were on a higher portion of the underground cave. If they kept going, they may eventually get to a lower part and come out. But this still came with the same risk as before, unfortunately. And there was always the chance that they’d go too far and end up cutting into the ocean. Which would be fine, except that they had no magic chalk, Barney’s wings were torn off, and they wouldn’t be able to get too far away before the Chalklantians detect them in the water.

And what of that shield? How would they get past that?

They realized they had forgotten about that. This was going to make the escape much harder. How would they get past the line of defense that entrapped their submarine when they last had come here?

Unfortunately, none of them could think of anything they could do except going into some security location where the shield was being controlled, and shut it down. That wouldn’t exactly put them in the most positive of light. After all, they would be deliberately lowering their defenses. This isn’t something they would think the zoners would take too kindly to.

They couldn’t stay for long, however, for fear of the king’s minions coming to find them. They needed to keep moving. Every second they spend wasting, sitting around, was another second the king had to find them. Though uncertain, they kept moving forward.

After several minutes of walking, they reached a series of small tunnels. They were all glad to finally be able to stretch themselves more. Especially Snap, who immediately rushed forward so he could stretch out his arms and legs, which he commented felt really good.

Rudy was glad to not have to use the laser anymore. He placed it in his pocket and he and the others proceeded through the natural tunnels slowly.

The tunnels were angled, twisted, with various different places to go. There were some sharp edges pointing up and down. The stalagmites and stalactites were everywhere, most of them small and easily broken off with a kick. Everything had a sort of wet feeling to it, like someone had sprayed a hose down here to keep it clean. There were a few small puddles of water. The sound dripping of water hitting the puddles caused a loud echo against the walls.

Just like in the tunnels that they had to chisel out, this place had some glow to it. It seemed that Chalklantis had plenty of this...this glowstone as they decided to call it. Penny believed that this was how the plants were able to grow around here. Snap commented that he was just glad they existed, otherwise they would be bumping into each other and everything in the dark.

Whether or not the cave had an exit was a story in of itself. Just like the Real World, there was a chance that this cave really had no exit. It may just be a cavernous opening in some kind of mountain. This was concerning, as tunneling through a cave structure like this was risky. It wasn’t like before when they knew they had thick walls all around them. What if Rudy cut into the wall and all the sharp things broke off and crushed them?

The travel through these caverns was largely uneventful. There was very little to see here other than the glowing rocks, and while they were pretty, they had other things to worry about, prompting them to move faster and hoping to find the exit sooner. That is, if there even was one.

At one point, they took a turn into one of the tunnels at random, since they had no leads, only to run into some tiny birds, who screeched like bats. They screamed and ran off as the birds flew at them, screeching loudly and pecking at them. They ran as fast as they could before they eventually hid in a small crevice. The birds eventually lost interest and fled, allowing them to get out and continue walking.

Not too long after, they nearly ran into a deadly-looking scorpion. It was pretty big for an arachnid, about two feet wall. It raised its stinger and aimed it at them. The group of four froze in terror, watching it carefully as it raised its claws in a threatening display.

Barney quickly looked up the information on it, and thankfully, it did not spray its venom like the manticore did. Despite its size, it behaved more like a regular scorpion, and according to Barney, it was just defending itself.

Being very careful, they moved along the walls, keeping their eyes on the huge scorpion. They kept their backs to the walls, staying close to each other, as they moved around. As soon as they reached the nearest tunnel, they went in and continued to walk down. Soon they were far away from that scorpion.

They continued to walk through the tunnels and the low-ceilinged cave. Other than those two incidents, they didn’t have too much trouble after. The main issue became trying to get out before too much time had passed. There were some serious deadlines to consider, and not just the one for Rudy and Penny’s parents.

For one thing, Rudy and Penny needed food and water, or they would gradually get weaker and perish. By leaving their cell, it also meant leaving behind the food they had brought in. They would both need to be careful to conserve their hydration and energy.

Then there was the matter of King Mumbo Jumbo. How long did he have before King Zander decided to off him? Certainly he would not want a potential rival to his throne, and he’d want to deal with it as soon as possible.

And what of the disease? How long did it have before it would cause massive damage to this place? What if it spread to the surface? They knew they had to figure out the secret behind this head deflator disease at some point. Barney promised to look up the information after they had gotten to a safe spot on the surface.

Not too long after they had entered an unusually rounded tunnel with a series of tiny, sharp stalactites jetting down in a row along the ceiling, Barney had finally pulled up that old map that he had mentioned before. It was a bit corrupted due to the removal of Chalklantis data, and he did have was broken up, resulting in a map that looked not only old, but half finished.

Penny examined it on his pod. After a few moments, she told the others that the shape of this place likely hadn’t changed, only the location and number of buildings, and possibly the number of zoners as well. She believed that if they kept on their current trek, they may be able to come into what appeared to be some kind of forest. Even if there was a chance that it was cut down and replaced with housing at this point, it was their best shot at this point.

They discussed this for a bit. Rudy and Barney were both concerned with the idea, while Snap agreed it was their best chance. They discussed it further before eventually deciding that Penny was right. Not delaying any further, they went down the path that Penny suggested and continued there for a while.

Eventually, as they kept walking, dirt began to show up on the walls. They continued on until the rocks began to slowly dissipate into dirt. Realizing that they must have reached a forested section, Rudy took out his laser and began to cut an opening. As soon as the hole was created and light started to shine through, they cautiously stepped out, fully prepared for fight or flight in case they had miscalculated.

They soon relaxed when they saw where they were.

They had made it into the forest.

sss

“Wow... I never want to walk...” Snap panted heavily, his tongue hanging out. “...that much...that fast...again...”

“Snap, we’ve walked a lot further before.” Penny pointed out.

“Yeah, but we weren’t constantly on the run from a bunch of creepazoids.” Snap pointed out. “Besides, that cave we ventured into was kind of warm!”

“We were probably passing underneath some kind of heated spring or something.” Penny commented. It did seem possible that the person who drew Chalklantis designed it to be that way. Penny didn’t dwell on it too long, however. “Anyway, we don’t have much time to relax. We should get going.”

“But which way should we go?” Snap looked all around. “It all looks the same here!”

“I could fly up and try to find something but...” Barney hesitated, gritting his teeth. Penny and the others looked at him sadly, nodding their heads in understanding.

Rudy’s eyes flashed once. “But your legs are fine, aren’t they?” He pointed at Barney’s feet.

“Yes... Why?” Barney inquired, looking at Rudy with curiosity.

Penny and Snap were interested as well.

“Did you think of somethin’?” Snap asked.

“Yes, Rudy. Did you think of a solution?” Admittingly, Penny couldn’t think of one herself. She had a feeling that it was going to be so simple that she was going to slap herself in the face for not thinking of it earlier.

And sure enough it was.

“Barney, you can climb up walls and other surfaces with those feet. Wouldn’t you be able to walk up one of these trees and see where we are?” Rudy looked around. He soon focused on what appeared to be one of the tallest trees of the area. “Over there!” He pointed. “That looks like a good spot!” He looked back at Barney. “Can’t you climb up that tree?”

Barney stared at the tree, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Well I suppose I could. But it’s one thing to climb up a rocky wall. It’s another to try to climb a tree...”

“Can’t you at least try?” Rudy asked, holding up out his hand in gesture. “Please...it’s the only way we will be able to get our bearings.”

“Oh all right...” Barney began to make his way over towards the tree. “But this is the only time I’ll be doing this!”

As Barney walked towards the tree, Penny took a moment to look at the surroundings that they were presently in. One quick look around told her that she wouldn’t want to stay in here for long, and neither would her friends.

The forest they were in was a bit dark. Not overtly so, but it was like someone took the lights and dimmed them. The trees were all tall and looked similar to redwood. There was a small layer of grass, this one colored more dully than the blue grass they had seen before. There were a few hills, but the land was mostly flat, as if someone had taken a large bulldozer and crushed everything. Tall ferns covered the land as well, colored a dull green, like someone had spilled the color grey all over it.

All around, there was an unsettling black glow. It wasn’t very obvious at first, especially since their minds were still racing from their escape. Now that she was relaxed enough, she started to notice it. All around, the black glow rose up, intermingling with the plants. She realized that this was the reason that the forest was darkened.

The glow itself created an eerie aura. She couldn’t help but rub her shoulders to try to comfort herself. It was getting pretty chilly here the longer she stood. She could practically feel the hairs on her arms start to stand, and she knew it wasn’t just from the cold. She knew they had to get moving. The sooner, the better.

She turned her head and looked at where Barney was. At this point, he had reached the tree. He had stopped in front of it and was looking up and down to examine it. Soon he began his trek up.

“I hope he will be all right.” Rudy commented softly as he watched Barney. “I would feel horrible if he got hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Bucko. Barney will be fine! He was built for this sort of climbing!” Snap raised his hands in the air as he tried to reassure Rudy.

“I’m sure Barney will be fine. But...” Penny stared over at where Barney was. He was a bit of a distance away. She bit her lip. She didn’t like that. Not here, not in this place. “Let’s go join him at the tree. It is best if we stick together.”

“Good idea.” Rudy nodded his head.

The trio headed towards the tree. They constantly looked up as Barney began to make his progress, then they would occassionally look around at their surroundings, visibly flinching at how dreadful this place was starting to look. The arena looked more attractive than this. Okay, so that was a bit of stretch.

As they continued to walk, soon reaching the tree, Penny began to have a feeling of deja vu. And she wasn’t the only one.

“Looks like we’re all together again.” Snap looked up towards the sky, or rather, the ceiling of this enormous cave. “The four of us on an adventure.” He put emphasis on the word ‘four’.

“Yeah, but this isn’t like before.” Rudy’s voice had a solemn tone to it, his eyes furrowing in concern. “This is...so different...”

Indeed it was. Penny couldn’t disagree with that. This was their second adventure with Barney, and it did spring up uncomfortable memories of the balloonemia outbreak.

But their present situation wasn’t like that. In some ways, this was worse. Not only was their an epidemic here, but there were a bunch of human-hating, surface-loathing zoners who seemed to want them dead, they were trapped underwater with literally no way to contact their friends on the surface, and they were chalkless.

Well, at least they were trying. It was all they could do.

Penny looked up at Barney, noticing he had gotten halfway up there at this point. He had slipped a few times, but thankfully managed to hold on. She felt her chest tighten with emotion as she watched him. She hoped that whatever Barney found would be able to help them get out of here.

sss

Climbing up the tree wasn’t as easy of a task as Barney thought it would be. The tree wasn’t exactly smooth, and the branches were weak in some places. This caused him to nearly fall down a few times on his way up. He did manage to hold on, but he suffered a few close calls.

He could feel a wave of familiarity as he did this. It had been a long time since he walked up anything like this. Ever since Rudy gave him wings, wall climbing just seemed...inefficient. Now he was putting that old skill to good use again. It was like riding a bike; he didn’t forget, even if going up initially caused a few hiccups at first.

Barney was careful as he walked up the tree. There were several branches that were lowered towards him, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d brush up against them, hitting his shoulders. Each time his shoulders were touched when he miscalculated, he had to freeze and shiver in pain. Then he’d suffer flashbacks from when Kairos had him tortured. He managed to push back the memories to continue, though for how long, he wasn’t sure.

Barney was not entirely surprised by what Kairos had done. He had known about what he was really like for a long while now. The only thing that truly surprised him was how long it took for Kairos to do something to him. He had pissed off Kairos before, and he had thought he would have tried to get him back sooner.

Knowing that the attack was coming did little to comfort him. That didn’t make his experience any less horrific. He could still feel the pulling, the biting, the tearing....

Barney suddenly hit his foot against a branch. He toppled over, winding up hanging across the limb. He must not have been paying attention enough. He grumbled to himself for such stupidity.

“Barney!”

“Are you okay?!”

Barney nearly jolted at that. He clutched his chest, feeling it beat quickly. Had they been discovered already?

Looking down, he could see that it was just Rudy and his friends. He let out a sigh of relief. He felt a flash of anger and wished that they had been more careful about calling out to him. He quickly shrugged it off and gave an answer back. “I’m fine! Don’t worry!”

Barney turned his head around and looked at the trunk of the tree. He tapped his finger on his chin to try to figure out how best to go about this. Slowly, he placed his feet on the bottom of the branch. He proceeded to walk, goind upside down before quickly rounding himself back up and soon he was on his way again.

He was nearing the top now. The branches had gotten much shorter and thinner at this point. They were curving inward, creating a point at the top. The leaves were in a larger congretation near the top. He was getting ever closer to them and soon he was in their shade.

He paused when he felt one of the branches touch him a little too close to that one spot. He realized, in horror, that he wasn’t going to be able to proceed through here without moving through these branches, which were more numerous and thicker than down further. But he couldn’t just stop now. He was almost there. He could endure a few brushes, couldn’t he?

He had little choice. Narrowing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath, Barney proceeded to go up, preparing himself for the worst.

But he wasn’t prepared for the world of pain he had put himself in as soon as he went up. The several tiny branches constantly scraped against his back, hitting against the nubs where his wings used to be. His eyes bulged and tears of pain began to drip down his face. He stifled his screams, biting down on his tongue, nearly cutting into it.

Despite his mind telling him to stop, he quickened his pace. If he could just get to the top quickly, it would end the pain faster. He tried to ignore the scrapes and the pokes of the branches as he quickly moved up. His feet slipped a few times and he ended up falling a few feet down, forcing him to relive through the pain for longer.

Finally, after much struggling, he reached the top of the tree. He could feel the branches, softer up where, push against his body. He could feel his back radiating in pain from the constant irritation. He was certain that he got something in his back wounds. He would have Penny look at them later.

The first thing he did was look down. He was really high up. He could barely see his friends down there. If they tried to shout at him when he was this high up, there was no way that he would be able to hear them, and they wouldn’t hear him either. He wrapped his body around the narrow tip to give himself some support. He raised himself up and placed a hand over his eyes and looked around.

The forest they were in was quite large. In all directions, it stretched for at least a few miles. He continued to scan the area and tried to see if he could figure out which way was the best.

In one direction, they were near the wall. He could see the tall, rocky, slick structure rise up from the ground and curve upwards many feet up in the air. A large ‘window’, whatever the Chalklantians call it, was directly overhead, allowing him to see a small fish swim by.

Looking in another direction, he could see the hallway tunnels above them, stretching across the ceiling of this place. There was one that zigzagged right over them. There were several windows in them, allowing the zoners inside to see out.

This caused him to pause. This was a great concern. What if the king sent his minions to look for them using these? They were at such an advantage point up there, and they could probably see for quite some distance.

Well, the trees would provide some cover. At least for now. With how far this forest stretched, it would be a while before they could be spotted from above. That was the one positive thing about this forest. It might be a bit spooky with the black, wafering glow, but at least they wouldn’t get so easily spotted from down there.

Looking in yet another direction, he could see that there appeared to be a new biome a bit further down. It appeared to be another forest, with different types of trees and plants. It was hard to say just what was in this forest, or if it would be any better than this place. It was too far away to tell, even from this height.

That forest appeared to be their best place to go to. None of the other directions seemed good. Not only was there a dead end, but the only other way they could go would have led them dangerously close to the colosseum, and they certainly didn’t want to go back there.

He took another look at the second forest, making note of which direction that it was in. Then he began to make his descent down the tree.

sss

Rudy couldn’t turn his eyes away. He kept watching Barney go up the tree the whole time. Although he knew that Barney could climb up walls easily with those feet, and even though he had been the one who had reassured everyone that Barney could do this, he still couldn’t help but worry. If Barney made one slip, he wouldn’t have those wings anymore to help him.

Ironically, as Barney had been climbing up, it had been Penny and Snap who reassured him when they saw that he wasn’t as confident as he thought he was. They moved in a little closer to him to comfort him with their presence. He was grateful.

Despite their comfort for each other, they weren’t able to stop worrying. Especially when Barney had slipped and fallen on that branch. That had been terrifying. Any time that he slipped and was going to fall, he and his friends would gasp in horror and freeze, watching intently at the centipede. They all breathed sighs of relief whenever he managed to get back up and proceeded along the tree.

It was such a relief when Barney made it all the way to the top. They waited patiently for him as he scouted the land up there. They watched with great intent, hoping that he would be able to bring them some useful information. The last thing they wanted to hear was this forest went on forever, or the king had spotted them or something.

Rudy wasn’t sure how long it actually took, but when Barney finally came down the tree, it felt like several hours had passed. He and his friends immediately rushed over to the centipede.

“So? What did you see up there?” Snap asked.

“Did you find anything?” Inquired Penny.

Rudy took a step closer. “What were you able to find out up there?”

“Other than it was high.” Snap chimed in, a small smile on his face. “That much we can gather.

Barney took a moment to brush himself off. “Well, I...” He visibly flinched and shuddered, arching his arms and body to one side.

“Barney? What’s wrong?” Penny moved in closer. “Is something..?”

Barney waved his hands to her. “It’s not important right now. Let me tell...” He let out another yelp, his body jerking to his side. He looked over and noticed the frown that Snap was wearing, the confused look Rudy had, and the concerned on that covered Penny’s face. Barney let out a sigh. “I hit my shoulders against some of the branches up there.”

“Oh Barney...” Penny whispered softly.

Barney quickly waved his hands again, this time more frantically. “B-But it’s fine! It’s not that bad...Really!”

Rudy folded his right arm against his chest. He glared at Barney. He didn’t appreciate Barney lying like that. He could see the look in his eyes. He could tell that he was hurting more than he was letting on. He turned his head towards Penny and gave her a single nod.

Wordlessly, Penny proceeded to move towards Barney. She took position beside him and placed her hands on him carefully. She peered in closely and began to examine Barney’s back.

While she did this, Barney took this opportunity to continue. “Well anyway, based on my discoveries, there’s only one direction we can do. Going over there...” Barney pointed in one way. “..would lead us to a dead end. Going there...” He pointed in another direction. “...we would end up back where we started.”

Rudy nodded his head. He recalled that the particular direction Barney pointed in was the same direction that they had come from. He wondered if Barney could see the arena from where he was. A part of him hoped not; that would mean that someone from the arena might have seen him and know where they were.

Barney pointed in one more direction. “But over that way, we would end up in another forest. Different from this.”

“Another forest?” Snap narrowed his eyes slightly, raising up a hand. “We don’t need another forest. We need to get out of here!”

“Yes, but it’s the only feasible direction. Once we get there, I can climb up another tree to see if I can spot anything. I won’t have the height advantage like there.” He looked up at the tree that he had been on just moments ago. “But it’s better than nothing.”

“That is true.” Snap admitted. He turned his head to look at Rudy. “Think we should proceed there soon?”

Rudy nodded his head, but kept silent. He focused his eyes on Penny. He didn’t want to go anywhere until he knew the condition of Barney. He wasn’t interested in moving so suddenly if Barney needed a bit of treatment. The last thing he wanted was for Barney to get an infection.

Penny was lightly running her fingers along his back, pulling the tears of his vest open further so she could see the wounds better. Barney was doing a good job of holding still, especially with Penny’s fingers that close to his injury. There are a few yelps and flinches from Barney, but other than that, he remained as still as he could while Penny examined him.

Soon Penny pulled her hands away. She shook her head slowly. “We’re going to need to do something about that.” She looked over at the others as she realized that they would want to know. “Barney has a few splinters and some needle pieces in his back. They have to be removed, or they will cause an infection.”

“But we don’t have anything we can use.” Snap pointed out. “Remember? Rudy used the last bit of chalk up.”

“I had no choice! We had to get out of there!” Rudy stopped himself, realizing that arguing wasn’t going to get them anywhere. He took in a deep breath and sighed. “Well, what do you suggest, Penny?” He looked over at her. “Do you have any ideas?”

Penny looked around. She soon settled upon a tall stalk of ferns not too far from where they were. She reached over and pulled off one of the leaves, breaking it at the step. She dropped the leaf itself on the ground and began to fiddle around with the tip of the green stem. “I might be able to use this.”

“I hope it won’t take long.” Snap walked towards one of the trees. He placed his hand against it and leand on it. “Who knows how long we have before...” Suddenly he fell down. “Oof! What the...?”

The ‘tree’ he had been leaning against had moved. They could see the shine of scales, which coated the green-black body of whatever Snap had touched. He took one look at it, gave a yell, and ran back towards the others, who were watching in horror as the creature made itself known.

To Rudy’s confusion, the creature did not appear to be greek mythology related, and instead seemed to be something entirely new that was created by whoever made this place. That only increased the terror he felt as he stared at it.

The creature was a green and black snake. Its tail ended in a nasty-looking hook and it had large bat-like wings that spread out near its head. A hood was spread out, and a skull and cross bones could be seen plainly on its throat. Its blood red eyes stared at them intently, flicking its pink tongue at them. Slowly, it began to move towards them.

The group raised their heads up as they looked at the snake, noticing its height. It was huge, taller than they were, and big enough to swallow them whole. And that looked like exactly what it was going to do as it opened up its jaws, exposing its long, sharp, needle-like fangs at them. It continued to move closer until it stopped a few feet in front of them. Then it began to sway itself from side to side.

“What’s it doing? Not that I’m complaining but...” Snap held up his hands at his sides. “Why isn’t it biting us?”

“I think it’s trying to trick us.” Penny said in a cautionary tone. “It’s doing this to try to confuse us and make it hard for us to decide what to do.”

Snap bit his lip. “Well it’s working! What do we do?”

Penny looked behind her. She then looked back at the snake. “We don’t have much of a choice. Run!”

Immediately, the group turned and began to run in one direction together. As soon as they made their move, the snake had lunged forward. They could hear it smash against one of the trees. There was a splitting sound of would, and then they could hear the tree collapse on the ground. The sound of something sliding was their only way of knowing that the snake was pursuing them.

They ran as fast as they could along the forest floor. Manuevering through here was very difficult. The denseness of the trees might make them hard to see from above, but it was making them easier prey for the snake coming in behind them.

As they ran through the trees, Rudy dared to look behind him. He was horrified when he saw that the snake was easily zigzagging through, wrapping itself around the trees like it was nothing, proceeding to come after them. He turned his head around and pumped his right arm, trying to make himself move even faster.

The winged snake didn’t attempt to fly, which confused Rudy. He guessed that it was too dense here for it to fly. Maybe it came from the other forest and decided to come here for some reason?

Though the snake didn’t try to fly, it did still attack. It was able to get close enough to try to land a few strikes. It rarely tried to strike with its tail, though that was of little comfort to them. Rudy and the others had to dodge quickly to avoid gettting bit. They winced when they felt the snake’s breath against them with each failed bite. They all knew that one wrong move would be enough to get snagged up. They pushed himselves to move faster despite their increased tiredness. They needed to lose the snake, and fast.

Rudy began to realize that, with each strike, the winged snake seemed to be focused largely on him. He was confused by this at first until he remembered he was the one with the broken arm. The snake could tell that his friends were in better shape than him, and Barney appeared larger due to his length and probably warded the snake off.

But as for himself...

Rudy realized in horror that his broken arm was making him look more attractive to the snake. It knows that he’s weakened, and it was trying to get at him. He tried to run faster, feeling ihs heart pound in his chest.

Then he realized something. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. If he could lure the snake away, that would give his friends time to escape. He wasn’t sure yet how he was going to escape the snake. But right now, he was more concerned for his friends’ fates than himself.

As they came up towards one of the trees, Rudy held out his right arm. He grabbed onto the tree and he swung himself around. He proceeded to run in a different direction. Just as he hoped, the winged snake turned its head and came after him.

“Rudy?!” Penny cried in shock. “What are you doing?!”

“Rudy!” Snap shouted.

Rudy looked over his shoulder, noticing that the others had stopped. He shook his head rapidly, moving his hand towards them in quick motions. “No! Keep running! I’ll distract it!”

“Rudy!” Penny and Snap shouted in unison.

Rudy didn’t bother answering them back. He turned his attention back to what was in front of him. He continued to run as fast as he could, trying to keep ahead of the snake.

It wasn’t easy moving through the dense forest. There was so little space between the trees. He still managed to squeeze through them without losing too much speed. He jumped over some roots that were up fron the ground. He ran through some of the ferns, ignoring the sting as they touched his broken arm. He zigzagged, constantly changing direction. All the while, he made sure that the winged snake didn’t lose sight of him and kept on following him.

Suddenly, the snake moved its head out in front of him. Rudy let out a scream and jumped back. He had miscalculated his previous few moves and now the snake was right in front of him. It was too close for him to break off into a run. The low hiss that the snake was making was enough to chill his blood in his veins, and his legs started to become wobbly and stiff.

The snake struck. Rudy managed to move out of the way, narrowly missing getting hit. He pressed himself against the tree as he looked up at the snake. It raised its head high into the air, swaying itself around again as it prepared to strike a second time. He was certain he could see some venom dripping from its long fangs. The sight of them made him shudder.

When the snake struck again, he had no choice but to dive forward. He let out a cry of pain as he smashed against the ground, hitting his broken arm. He writhed on the ground and clutched his arm against himself, a torrent of pain washing over him. He looked at the snake, his vision blurry. The snake was moving in closer to him, quicker, with more deadly intent as it watched him squirm.

Rudy took in a few shaky breaths, his pupils shrinking in horror. He started to push himself onto his feet. He used his right hand to steady himself. He tried to take a step forward, but he ended up slumping, and pressed himself against the next tree. He ignored the scrape of the back against his skin as he panted heavily.

What was he going to do now? If he didn’t get out of the way soon...

Rudy watched as the snake’s mouth split wide open. He stared at the gaping maw, his eyes trailing up to the fangs. He gritted his teeth and sucked in a fear-filled breath. Desperation and terror rising up inside of him, he turned and started to flee as quickly as he could.

The snake struck.

sss

“Oh no you don’t!”

Snap was relieved that he had gotten here before the snake could get Rudy. But that relief soon turned into fear and desperation when he saw just how close the snake was to getting to his friend. It had been in the middle of a strike when he had jumped in.

He got on the snake’s body that was on the ground. The scales were smooth and a little slippery. He formed a fist with his hand and he began to pound the snake. Over and over again, he struck, hitting as hard as he could. Eventually, the snake haulted its attack and looked over at him.

“Yeah! That’s right!” Snap waved his arms in front of himself. “Come get me, you big doofus!”

“Snap...?” He could hear Rudy say.

“Don’t worry, Bucko! I’m here!” Snap assured him. “I..”

“Look out!” Rudy cried in horror.

Snap looked up and saw that the snake was preparing to strike. He stared up at it in horror, and then hunched his body, narrowing his eyes in determination. He did have an idea of how to stop the snake. He wasn’t going to like doing this, but it was either this or risk them all getting killed.

When the snake struck, he stood there for a few extra seconds. Time seemed to slow down. He could hear Rudy’s shout. He could see the snake moving. But despite what his friend said, despite what he could clearly see before him, he didn’t move. He stood there and waited, and then, at the last second, he jumped.

The snake, unable to stop itself in time, bit down onto itself. Snap winced when he heard the sickening slicing sound as the fangs penetrated its own body. Snap moved a few steps back and watched the scene unfold.

The snake let out a shriek when it realized when it had done to itself. It reared its head back, its mouth split wide open. It moved itself from side to side in a wild writhe. It soon shook its head and looked down at him. Snap gulped and took a step back. The snake hissed at him and proceeded to move towards him.

Suddenly it stopped. Despite having no eyelids, its eyes seemed to widen. The pupils started to shrink as it was experiencing what Snap assumed was pain. Its whole body started to shiver like it had a nasty cold. It opened its mouth wider, attempting to suck in a breath. Snap could hear the raspy sound of the futile attempts of breathing. The sight was uncomfortable to watch, and yet Snap couldn’t look away.

The snake collapsed on the ground. Snap had to move out of the way to avoid getting hit. The snake rested there for a few seconds. It then gave a few violent jolts, as if it were trying to desperately get back up. Soon it stopped completely and its chest stopped rising and falling. Snap didn’t need to go check its pulse to know that it was either dead, or it was paralysed, done in by its own venom.

Snap stood there for several moments, his mind racing, having a hard time processing what had just happened. He stared wide-eyed at the prone snake, his breathing growing shaky. Despite the fact that he knew this had to be done, that didn’t lessen the guilt that he felt for doing it. He hardly moved, not even when Rudy had come up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Snap looked up at Rudy. He could see the horrified look in Rudy’s eyes. But he could also see some understanding in them as well. Rudy gently pulled him close, allowing him to press his head against him. Snap rubbed his head against Rudy’s chest, attempting to calm himself after what he had done.

But just like with Penny and the manticore, Snap knew that he was not going to be able to get rid of this feeling anytime soon. He just had to keep reminding himself it was for the best.

Amidst his horror, he felt relief for his friend. He stared up at Rudy. Just seeing that he was still alive was enough to help calm him. His actions had saved Rudy’s life. If he hadn’t tricked the snake into biting himself, then Rudy would have been...

He tried not to think about it. He tried not to think about what he made the snake do. Right now, he just concentrated on the fact that Rudy was okay now. He wrapped his hands around him and pulled him in a tighter embrace.

“Rudy? Snap?”

The two boys looked over and saw that Penny and Barney had found them. Snap was amazed that they were able to catch up so quickly.

Penny noticed the snake. “What happened...?” She whispered softly. She looked at Rudy and Snap. “Did one of you...?”

Snap’s face contorted into sadness. “I had no choice....I...”

Penny and Barney stared at him in shock and sadness. They didn’t say a word. They simply nodded their heads slowly in understanding. Snap could see empathy shining in Penny’s eyes as she looked at him. She understood what it felt like to make a hard decision.

They all stood there in silence for a few moments, each allowing the reality of what happened sink in. They all shook in fear, in shock, but most of all, relief. They had nearly been killed by this creature. If any of them had tripped up... They all shuddered to think what would happened if one of them fell to the beast. How well could they have coped?

But as difficult as it was to start moving again, they knew they had to. If they stayed here too long, they might get figured out, or attract another winged snake. Or maybe even something worse...

Rudy turned his head and looked towards where Barney had indicated before. It was a miracle that he was even still able to figure out which way to go. He stared at that direction for a moment before looking back at the others. “Should we proceed?”

Numbly, they all nodded their heads. Without another word, they all began to head in that direction. They stayed close to each other, comforting each other with their warmth and closeness. It was still a long road ahead, and they had a lot traveling to do.


	17. A Moment Of Peace

Despite the fact that they were leaving the safety of the thick foliage, Snap was quite happy to be out of there and into the next forest. Especially after what they had to go through to get here.

Crossing that river had been quite hard. There was no other way around it, however. It was either they cross it, or they stayed on the other side until the king found them. And personally, he would rather deal with the river than that lousy, no good king.

Barney had found a tall, dead tree that had tilted downwards about half way. It was tall enough to be able to fit over the water very easily. They worked together to push it down. It took a little while, and Snap could have sworn he pulled a muscle in the process. But soon, they were able to make the tree give way and it collapsed down. They crossed it immediately.

This new forest had an entirely new feel to it. It didn’t have any weird glow like the other forest did. No spooky aura or anything of that nature. It was a more beautiful looking forest. More vibrant in color, and bright; a large light crystal hung overhead, made of the same glowstone as before. This acted like a Day Zone sun, or in Rudy and Penny’s face, a noon sun. Warm, but not too warm.

The trees here were far less numorous, but were wider in size. They appeared a lot softer. They didn’t look like sharp brushes stuck in the ground like in the last forest. It almost looked like it had the consistancy of pillows, and that he could sleep on one of them sometime.

In addition to the nicer-looking trees, there were also rolling hills that rose and fell. Nothing too sharp, but a bit more pronounced than in the last forest. These were mostly covered in tall grasses and flowers, some of the same species that they had seen before. There were also lines of bushes located in various places, some of them wrapping around the trees as if to keep them from going anywhere, despite the silliness of that. Some of these bushes bore some delicious-looking purple and blue berries, and a handful of the trees had orange-colored fruits.

The walk was rather pleasant. Snap could feel a sense of peace come over him. They all felt relaxed. There was just something so calming about this particular forest. None of them spoke as they walked along, too busy admiring the landscape around them to really worry about anything. It was so relaxing, they imagined they could fall asleep and nothing would happen.

This moment of peace was exactly what they needed. After the hell they had gone through before, they deserved a bit of a break. They could feel their anxiety levels go down, returning to more suitable levels. They could feel their bodies relaxing, their fingers stop tensing. And for the first time in hours, their minds felt more clear than they ever did before.

Despite knowing they should remain alert, Snap couldn’t help but smile softly. It did feel good being able to walk without feeling like someone was over his shoulder, ready to get him. They had put so much distance between them and the guards, there was no way they’d catch up by now. Yes, now was time for a bit of relaxing.

The group did stop after a while of walking, leaning against one of the trees. The tree itself felt pretty soft, despite having bark like any tree would. Snap found himself running his hand over it, and noticed that the bark was shaped a bit like fur. Almost. Penny was fascinated by it and was about to take notes, only to realize she didn’t have any. Despite her frustration, Rudy convinced her to just relax and lay down by the tree, promising to help her remember once they got out of there.

Relaxing by the tree felt almost like resting up against some large furry animal. Snap could almost feel the nonexistent rib cage rise and fall. He would have fallen asleep if he didn’t feel Barney nudge him constantly to prevent him from closing his eyes.

After a few minutes of resting, Snap looked up at the holes above them, watching the fish swimming by. The sight of it made his stomach churn. If only they were out in the ocean now... If only they could get back to their friends...

Deciding that break time was over, Snap climbed up to his feet. He looked at the others, giving them a solemn look. They nodded their heads in understanding. Looking back out towards the land, brushing themselves off, they continued.

Soon they reached at all hill with a bit of rocks jetting out of it. Carefully, they moved down. Climbing down this slope was tricky, and there were easy places to trip. Snap nearly fell victim to one, and Penny fell for another. They rushed to her side as they reached the bottom and looked her over. Thankfully, Penny appeared to be all right.

They passed through a couple of tall trees. There was some kind of weird writing on them. Red and faint. But none of them paid any mind. The writing was scribbled and it didn’t even look like any actual language. Then a bit beyond that, they were at another slope, this one much smaller, and at the bottom, Snap took notice of what was possibly the first sign of water in this new location.

Wrapping around some of the hills were small creeks, so thin they could be easily stepped over even by him. They traveled along, emptying out into nothingness. He couldn’t see the source of where they came from, but he was certain that there was at least one large body of water somewhere here.

Staring at the water, Snap felt his mouth start to feel dry. He smacked his lips a few times. He was starting to realize just how parched he was from all the walking and running from before. Staring at the water seemed to put him in a trance. He couldn’t look away. He needed to get over there and have a sip of that water. Just a little sip...

Before he could walk too far, he felt someone grab onto him. He turned his head to see, no surprise, Penny. He narrowed his eyes at her and pulled herself away.

“What is it?”

Penny shook her head. “You shouldn’t go drinking strange water, Snap. You don’t know what’ll happen if you...”

“I know what’ll do. It’ll stop me from being thirsty!” Snap rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure why Penny was being cautious about this. This was natural spring water, wasn’t it? Sure, she couldn’t drink it, but he and Barney shouldn’t have a problem.

Penny still wouldn’t let him go. She moved in front of him quickly and blocked his path. “It’s best if we..” She paused, realizing the situation with her and Rudy. “If you and Barney don’t eat or drink anything here. Not unless you find out that it’s safe.”

“Yeah?” Snap folded his arms. “And how do you propose we do that?”

Penny raised a finger and opened her mouth. She then paused herself, her eyes widening. She looked at Snap as her finger lowered down. “...by drinking a little bit and...waiting for the...results...”

“Wow, how brilliant.” Snap chuckled. “I never would have thought of that!”

Penny rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, well...” She shook her head and decided to drop it. Keeping her hand against her head, she looked back down at him. “Just try not to drink too much. If there’s any side effects...”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Snap raised his hands at his side.

This time, it wasn’t Penny who answered, or even Rudy. It was Barney.

“You could have a whole host of things happen to you. Some of them may range from being very minor to being life threatening.” Barney approached them slowly. He began to list some things off, pressing a finger against other fingers as he did so. “You should change colors, you could grow an extra limb, you could start speaking another language, you could have your organs liquify, you could become host to a parasitic infection...”

Snap could feel his face losing color, despite it already being white. He stared at the centipede in horror as he listened to all the effects that he was listing off. Some were really silly and probaly would do little more than annoy him. Then others were utterly terrifying. Even just the mention of them was enough to make his skin crawl.

Before Barney could finish, he waved his hands out in front of him rapidly. “Okay! Stop! I’ve had enough! I get it!”

“So what are you going to do, Snap?” Rudy held his hand towards him. “Are you going to test the water?” He moved his hand away. “Or are you just going to forget about it?”

Snap could have easily said to just get going. But curiosity was getting the better of him. They still had a bit of time, didn’t they? It wouldn’t hurt to test out the water. He and Barney could really use it. It’s not like they will be able to just walk into a store and get one.

But with all those things that Barney said about it...

Snap turned his head and stared intently towards Barney. “...maybe you can try it?” He motioned his hand towards the centipede.

“Me?” Barney placed a hand against himself. “You want me to try it?” Snap responded with a simple nod of his head. He took a step back, shaking his head. “I...no, I couldn’t...”

“Come on. Just a little sip.” Snap said. “That’s all it’s going to take.”

“I can’t! What if something happens to me and you guys need the information?” Barney protested. He pointed at Snap. “Why don’t you try it, if you are so desperate to know if it’s safe or not?”

“Because I could be of use if one of those big bad creepazoids show up.” Snap formed a fist with his hand and did a slow uppercut into the air. “I have to keep myself in tip top shape!”

Barney gave him an unimpressed expression. “Yes, because the Chalklantians will fear your mighty stature and run from your shadow.”

Snap detected Barney’s sarcasm and growled at him. “At least I can go places back at home without having a billion people crowding around me like I was some sort of magnet!”

Barney put his hands on his hips. A small smile spread across his face. “If I remember right...” He pointed a finger towards the small zoner. “You sprayed yourself one time with some kind of cologne that made you...” He motioned two fingers on each hand downwards a few times. “...irrestible to anyone who smelled you.”

Snap gaped at this, moving himself back. A few flashes of that incident came to his mind. He soon shook his head and glared at Barney. “Don’t you ever bring that up again...!”

Barney just smiled at him. “And what about the time when...”

“All right enough!” Rudy hissed as he and Penny got between the two. “We’ve wasted enough time! Just choose who is going to test the water!”

“It’s either you chose, or Rudy and I will choose for you.” Penny added, her glare casting upon the two zoners.

Snap and Barney flinched at this. It was clear that Rudy and Penny were rather displeased with their behavior. They looked at each other, and a feeling of guilt came upon them. Their anger wasn’t misplaced; they had been wasting time. Now wasn’t the time to be arguing with each other.

Allowing their emotions to seep through their bodies, allowing their more logical, rational sides to take them over, the two zoners turned to face each other. Their previous anger and annoyance with each other gone, they began to discuss with each other how the water tasting was going to work.

sss

And of course, Snap was the one who ended up being the taster. He wasn’t even sure how he was voted to do it, or how he agreed to do this. He couldn’t even worm his way out of it.

At least he wouldn’t have to do it for a while. The creek was still a distance away, and it would take maybe ten more minutes to reach it. That gave him some time to mentally prepare for the tasting. He had to remember what Penny said. Just a small drop. If there’s any bad in it, he would get a stomach ache and he would inform Barney not to drink it.

If there was a chance that the water was drinkable, he and Barney could use their hands and sip some of the water from the stream. They didn’t have any present means of taking it with. At least he and Barney could hydrate themselves, which will help out immensely in the long run.

He was worried for Rudy and Penny, however. What were they going to do? They couldn’t drink the chalk water, and all the stuff was back at the palace. He looked at them, and already they were showing some minor signs of being thirsty. Snap bit his lip nervously, feeling a pang of worry shoot through his stomach. He could only hope that they are able to get out of here soon. Sure, one day of no food or water is fine, but with them using all their energy running and fighting, the king could still take advantage of that.

He managed to keep himself relatively calm by enjoying the scenery around them. It was quite pretty. He liked this a lot more than the other forest. The Shadow Forest, as Penny had taken to calling it. The warmth of the light above them helped make this place feel much more inviting, even if they were out in the open most of the time, tunnels hanging over them.

He occasionally looked up at the tunnels, but despite all the windows that were in them, he didn’t notice anyone moving through them. They were empty. He wondered if they were even used often. They still couldn’t be ignored, and if he wasn’t looking up, one of his friends were.

But the above ceiling didn’t yield just nerve-wracking stuff. The holes at top that exposed the water outside were pretty to look at, especially when some of the light rays shined through, providing a bit of natural lighting outside of the crystals. He could see some of the sea life moving by, almost dancing about as if they were entirely oblivious to the danger set right below their fins.

But though the scenery provided a nice distraction, it didn’t work for long, and Snap found himself worrying again. This place would seem much more attractive if he knew that they would be able to get out of here. This was a good-looking place and all, but this was not where he wanted to be buried.

“Okay, we’re here.”

Snap shook his mind out of his thoughts as they started to go down a small hill. His foot got caught one of the uplifted roots. He fell forward, and Penny caught him before he could hit the ground. He thanked her and they slowly made their way down.

Soon the group stood in front of the stream. They stared at it warily, cringing slightly as they thought the water was going to come to life and attack them. They looked at each other, exchanging various thoughts, various similar, silent questions being asked.

Was it good idea to do this?

Should they just leave?

What if this was a trap?

There was really only one way to find out. None of them were happy about it. Snap could feel his mind racing as he tried to think of a way to get out of it. In the end, however, he knew there was really no choice.

He looked over at his friends. They all nodded their heads slowly. They gave him looks of concern and encouragement. They also appeared guilty. They didn’t want to have to subject him to this, yet they knew the benefits would be worth it. Escaping here was top priority.

Slowly, Snap made his way towards the creek. He knelt himself down onto one knee and stared intently at the water. He noted the sparkles in it, a product of the light over them. He watched and noticed how still it was, and it almost looked as if nothing was in there. It almost looked more like a vortex that he could jump in, and he’d fall down towards a cloudy sky. Yet he knew better and, as if to confirm, he stuck his hand against the water.

Ripples formed, distorting the image. A feeling of cold and wetness. Yes, this was water all right. He shook his hand to get the water droplets off. He looked back at his friends, who nodded their heads in encouragement. Snap looked back at the water. He gulped nervously before lowering down his hands.

He scooped up a small handful of water. He cradled it up. He could feel it drip through his fingerless hands, running down the sides and falling down. He hesitated, clenching his teeth tightly.

He wasn’t sure if he should do this. The warnings from before... What if something like that happened? Or much worse? Then again, how else was this water going to be tested? It wasn’t like Rudy or Penny could draw anything, and asking Barney to drink it would force those risks on him. He wasn’t sure if he could do that to him.

Sucking in a deep breath and sighing slowly, he lowered his head and stuck out his tongue. The others watched intently as he gingerly placed his tongue in the small puddle of water. He lapped at it twice, gathering a small thing of the cold fluid. And then he swallowed it.

Now all they could do was wait.

Snap waited, standing still as the tense seconds passed. He didn’t bother turning his head and looking at his friends. His eyes were glued on the water, at his own reflection. He kept looking for any signs of change, anything that indicated something was wrong.

After about roughly ten minutes had passed and he detected no change, he let out a sigh of relief. He turned his head and looked over at his friends. He would have given them the thumbs up if he had thumbs. “It’s all good!”

Rudy and Barney looked relieved, but Penny still seemed cautious. She placed her had against her chin and took a step forward.

“It might be a little early. Let’s just wait a little longer and see what happens.” Penny’s voice had that familiar cautious tone.

Snap shrugged his shoulders. “If it was really dangerous, wouldn’t I have felt something by now?”

Penny gave him a look. “If it was something like a parasite, I don’t think you’re going to notice any changes until enough time has passed. Some peple can go on for years without knowing they have a parasite infection.”

The thought of that made them all shiver.

Rudy leaned away from Penny, pulling his right arm towards him. “Please, no visuals, Penny. Not today.”

“Sorry, Rudy.” Penny again turned her attention onto Snap. “I still think we should wait a little longer. Just another minute or two. Just to be safe.”

Snap would have argued, but he didn’t see the point in it, Penny was just going to keep bringing it up until they agreed. She seemed really adament about this. Besides, what’s a few extra minutes anyway? It’s not like there’s been any signs of danger. In this open area, with very few trees, there were little places for any enemy to hide. They were fine.

Snap waited patiently for the few minutes to pass. He kept looking at the water eagerly, licking his lips slowly. The water did have something of an aftertaste, though it wasn’t bad. That small bit not only felt good in his mouth, but he felt much more hydrated already. He couldn’t wait to drink some more of it. He was certain that Barney felt the same way.

“Okay, time is up.” Snap looked over at Penny. About five minutes must have passed by now. “Now can I drink more of the water? I didn’t see anything wrong in my reflection, and I don’t feel any different.”

Penny didn’t answer right away. She looked a bit concerned still. Snap wondered if they would have to wait two hours before she would be satisfied. Not like they had that kind of time, though.

Closing her eyes, she gave a nod of her head. “Okay, go ahead.”

Snap smiled at this before turning his attention back to the water.

“Are you sure, Penny?” Rudy’s cautious voice came. “I mean, what if something...?”

“If the water was dangerous, Snap would have noticed something by now, even if it was just a little stomach ache. It could still have an effect, but at least it’s not toxic.” Penny gave a soft sigh. “If there’s bacteria... Well...”

Snap paid no attention to what Penny said. He focused on the water as he cupped another handful of it and began to drink it. He could hear Barney joining in. Judging from the sounds, Barney was much more hesitant than he was. The sound of slurping gave away that he was drinking some of the water.

Snap wasn’t sure how much he drink. At least two handfuls. He knew that he should have some level of caution. He couldn’t help himself; he had to keep drinking the water. His throat still felt dry and scratchy. The water felt so good against the back of his throat. It was like his mouth suffered a dry spell and was cracked, and the water was soothing them.

After a few moments, he finally stopped. He wiped off his mouth and he turned over to Rudy and Penny. The sound of more slurping told him that Barney was still drinking some himself. Snap was about to tell his friends that he was ready to get going, but suddenly, he froze as he caught a glimpse of something.

“What’s wrong?” He could hear Rudy’s concerned voice say. “What do you see?”

Snap didn’t answer. He just kept staring out into the distance, his eyes widening slowly. His eyes were focused on something behind Rudy and Penny. They looked behind, and instead of being shocked like he was, they were only confused. They scratched their heads and they looked back at Snap.

If they said anything, he hardly heard them. He could hear a gasp from Barney. He, too, was seeing it. Snap’s surroundings almost seemed to fade into darkness, with only this thing in front of him being noticed by his brain. He wasn’t sure whether he should be terrified or not.

“Snap! Answer us!”

Snap began to walk forward slowly. His mouth dropped partially open, almost as if he were in some kind of trance. He felt compelled to walk forward. It was as if something or someone was dragging him by a leash.

His friends attempted to stop him, but he just moved around them and continued on forward. He climbed up the small hill and continued walking straight, leaving behind his thoroughly confused friends.

sss

“Snap! Where are you going?!” Rudy hollered, cupping his hand against his mouth. “Snap! Come back!”

“Where is he going? That’s not the way we were traveling in.” Penny stood next to him, putting her hand to her mouth nervously. “Something is wrong...”

That was an understatement. Rudy cursed to himself. He knew that he and Penny should have been a little more vigilant with the water. Oh why didn’t he see this coming? They should have just passed by the water and continue on, and instead he was dumb enough to allow Snap and Barney to drink from it.

Speaking of Barney, he noticed that he was still there. He hadn’t walked yet. He wondered if it was because he didn’t drink as much. Rudy narrowed his eyes. He looked over at where Snap was going, and then he turned his head towards Barney. He noticed the way his eyes looked, as if they had seen a ghost.

Rudy gripped onto Barney, keeping him in his field of vision. Using his hand, he pulled Barney closer to him and looked at him in the eyes. “What’s going on, Barney? Why are you and Snap acting this way?”

Barney continued to have that dumbfounded expression. His eyes were distant and they were staring out ahead. “...That is...so..pretty...” He whispered softly, his voice barely a whisper.

“What is so pretty?” Rudy gritted his teeth. “What are you and Snap seeing?!”

“Rudy...” Penny placed a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t going to get many answers out of him that way.” She turned her head and looked at where Snap was now. “Let’s just stay close to him.”

Rudy sighed. At this rate, there was little else they could do. Barney was too large for them to drag without each other, and they had nothing to tie Snap to themselves. “All right then...”

Releasing Barney, the two children watched as he followed to where Snap was. Rudy and Penny gave each other worried glances. They both knew the water had something to do with this, but neither were sure just what it did. It could be some kind of trap set up by a predator. It could be some kind of magical thing with an unknown purpose. It could be something else entirely.

They began to follow the zoners. They stayed close to them. They looked left and right as they kept an eye out for any zoners, animal or sentient. Now would be a perfect time for them to get attacked. These two zoners probably wouldn’t see an arrow coming even if it was right in front of them.

So far, they had some good luck. There were no dangers in sight. Not even in the form of inanimate stuff, like something sharp or a pitfall. This didn’t stop the children from looking and being cautious.

They were glad that the two zoners appeared aware enough to know to avoid them. They kept jumping around, stepping over rocks and branches and whatever else. Even as they walked close to some edges with sudden drops, which were practically camouflaged in this landscape, they managed to avoid it easily. In fact, Rudy and Penny were in more danger themselves of falling than the zoners were. It was as if Snap and Barney had a stronger intuition about this place than they did.

Eventually, they came to a clearing. Specifically, a place of barren grass, as if it had suddenly died. The sight of this made Rudy and Penny cringe. They watched as their friends continued to walk forward. Rudy and Penny eyed each other nervously. There was something about this place that just seemed...off.

Cautiously, they walked forward, keeping an eye on their friends. Snap and Barney continued to walk forward in that same trance, their arms hanging limply at their sides, their mouths staying open. Soon, they stopped in the middle of the dead grass circle and just remained there.

Rudy and Penny stopped just outside of the circle. They looked down at the grass. Rudy pawed at the edge with this foot before turning to Penny.

“Do you think it’s safe? I know they walked across it fine, but...”

Penny stared at the circle, turning her head from one side to the other. “I’m not sure. I think we should just stay out here, just in case.”

Rudy turned his attention back to the zoners. Although they hadn’t answered them before, he decided to give it another chance and he called out to them. “What do you guys see?”

This time, however, they got a response.

“Don’t you see it...?” Snap whispered softly. He raised his hand and pointed outward. “Right there... It’s right there...”

Barney nodded his head in agreement. “It’s so pretty. How can you not see?” He pointed in the same direction as Snap. All the while, he and Snap never turned their heads away.

Rudy gritted his teeth, feeling his blood heat up. It wasn’t them he was mad at; it was at whatever was going on. Something was wrong with this place and he wanted to know once and for all what it was. Someone or something was messing with his friends and he was going to find out what it was.

He whipped his head from side to side, scanning the landscape. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He saw no zoner hiding in the trees. There were few here and the ones that were here had very little cover for any zoner of significant size to hide in. Not unless King Zander sent insects out after them.

“Where are...”

Penny shushed him by placing her hand on him. Rudy noticed how tightly she gripped him, and he could see the look on her face. He whispered her name, and she pointed where their friends where, her finger more downcast. “Rudy...look...”

Rudy looked at the patch that his friends were standing on. He noticed there appeared to be a faint glow. After a few seconds, it glowed a little brighter, whitish in hue. It formed some kind of crude picture. Nothing in too great of detail, but enough that he could see the basic form of what appeared to be a dog and a fox circling each other in some sort of weird yin yang.

“What the..?” Rudy whispered. “What is going on around here?”

He looked over at Penny. They exchanged worried looks, and turned their heads around. At first, they continued to find nothing. They kept looking. Something was wrong. Something didn’t feel right about this place. It was only after a few moments that they finally noticed something.

A sparkle.

Then more sparkles.

A shadow.

A light.

Swirling together, floating towards them. Barely making a form. Sparkling.

Then slowly, something came into view.

Two creatures. Transluscent at first. Then they became opaque.

Rudy and Penny took a step back as they noticed the two new forms now standing before them. It was a fox and a dog. The fox was orange in color, white a white underside and a black mouth, ears, paws, and tail. The dog was white with dark brown and black spots that adorned its body. Their eyes, a set of amber and a set of brown, stared at them intently.

Rudy was stunned, unsure of what to say at first. He couldn’t turn his eyes away from these two creatures. They hadn’t made a move towards them, or even spoke if they could, and yet he found himself unable to shift his eyes away from theirs. There was just something about them that made it difficult to turn away.

Penny grabbed onto him and started to push against him a little. “Rudy? What’s wrong?”

“Do not fight it...” The fox spoke. Its voice was like a wisp, wafering in the wind. It didn’t sound like it came from any less than two directions. “No one can resist.”

“Yes. Best surrender now.” The dog replied, its voice similar to the fox, except a bit heavier, more feminine, and coming from the exact opposite directions as the fox.

Rudy continued to stare at them, and was only stopped when Penny slapped him across the face. His head was jerked to the side, and his eyes bulged, realizing what he was free of whatever had happened. He shook his head and took in a few quick breaths.

“I’m so sorry, Rudy. I didn’t have a choice! I..”

Rudy ignored Penny’s words. He focused his attention all on the two canines that stood before him. Without looking directly at them, he asked them a single, shock-filled question. “What...are you..?”

The canines immediately began to circle each other this.

“We are a pair, and yet we are apart.”

They wrapped around each other, creating what looked to be the same pattern as the yin yang. Other times, they formed the infinity symbol, as of if to signify something.

“We are opposite. We are together.”

The fox and the dog stared at them the entire time as they did this. They kept walking around each other, their mouths curled up into smiles, almost sultry-like expressions shining from their eyes. They almost looked like snakes with the way they were constantly wrapping around each other.

Eventually they stopped, pressing their backs against each other as they rose on their hand legs. Their front feet dangled downward along with their heads. They shut their eyes and spoke again.

“I am Teumessian, the fox that can never be caught.”

“I am Laelaps, the dog that always catches her prey.”

Rudy and Penny immediately froze at this. They took a step back, their bodies hunched. The need to run was strong, yet the words of the two canines kept them locked in place. They both could feel the full weight of those words’ meanings weight down on them.

Slowly, the two canines turned their heads and looked over at them. In unison, they spoke, “And you are our toys for today. Please make this interesting for us. We rarely get to play.”

That was it. They had heard enough of this. Rudy and Penny rushed over towards their friends. They pushed against them, eventually knocking them out of the trance. They didn’t bother telling them any thing except run. Soon, they all ran off in one direction.

Behind them, the dog and fox merely smiled, their eyes glowing red.

“And now the chase has begun.” They spoke in unison before they broke off into a chase.


	18. Lost And Found

Kairos lifted up his head as he heard the sound of someone fast approaching. He turned and stared at the doorway and waited. He wondered who had the nerve to interrupt the meeting he was having with the king.

He soon got his answer. It was one of those guards. He couldn't quite remember his name. Why bother remembering them, anyway? They could always be replaced if something happened. Replacing them was so common, memorizing names became nothing more than a futile effort. Only those of great importance, like Rudy and his friends, did he bother keeping track names of.

The guard was rushing towards them. Kairos narrowed his eyes in disgust at this. It would seem that, in the guard's haste, he had forgotten about proper etiquette and how to act around their king. Perhaps he needs a little refresher.

"Sire! I.."

The guard immediately stopped when he took notice of Kairos. His demeanor changed abruptly. Though his head already bowing low, there was a flash of fear in the guard's eyes. The guard immediately stopped himself and took a step back.

Kairos glared at him coldly. He said not a word while the guard remained there, standing before him, a fear-tinged expression on his face. He had to admit, a part of him was liking this. The feeling of control over these people. This was part of the reason why he aspired to be the king's general. He was allowed to do almost anything he wanted to whomever the king signaled out.

This guard standing before him knew this quite well. He was clearly trying to be as still as possible, keeping his head low so he did not upset him further. But with his keen eyes, Kairos could see that he was still shivering.

He hid it quite well, but Kairos was enjoying this. He was smiling on the inside. If this guard didn't show him respect now, he would make sure he did later. He demanded the utmost in obedience and discipline. In someways, even more so than King Zander himself. Maybe that's why some of the guards felt more comfortable around the king. He had noticed that pattern.

Oh well, he preferred it that way. He could sense their negative emotion and it helped him feel stronger. This empowerment was why it felt so good to him when he asserted his control over someone.

The things he had done to the centipede were just a fraction of what he had done to prisoners himself. He would have directly done those wounds himself, like he did with most guards, but with Barney, he wanted something different. He had rarely done a group mauling before, and he felt it got the job done better.

Besides, that stupid insect was asking for it. He had challenged the king. He had forced King Zander into a situation he didn't want to be in. It was all his fault that the plans had gotten more complicated. It was only fair that Barney deserved a bit of comeback. If Barney didn't want to get hit, then he would have kept his mouth shut and allowed the king to continue on with his work.

Well, it was worth it. Every scream was like a melody. Each time Barney screamed, he smiled even broader. He allowed the beating to continue for longer than he had planned simply to drive the point home. He doubted that insect would dare speak against his king again, especially when he still had his precious tortoise friend to worry about.

He didn't fully understand why he cared about the tortoise anyway. He could have just left at any time and he would be fine. He didn't really get why the children were bothered by him hurting Barney. After all, he was not directly attacking them. He would never fully understand empathy, but he did know enough to be able to use it to his advantage. He had made many good deals abusing it.

It wasn't just the mental state he didn't understand, either. Despite his ranting before about pain being worse than being trapped, in truth, he himself never felt pain in his life. He was born...er..created without the ability to feel physical pain. As a result, he soon became fascinated in the suffering of others. It was something he could never experience himself, so to understand it, he turned to others.

But despite every scream, every squirm, every bloodshed, he never could feel a tinge of that distress himself. His ability to empathize was utterly nonexistent, and at some points, he was frustrated. Why couldn't he understand what they were feeling? How many more did he have to hurt before he would get it?

No matter. No wasn't the time for that. The silence had gone on long enough, and he could feel King Zander's eyes on him.

With a rush of cold air moving through him, he lowered his head and stepped to the side. Fear for himself was the reason he kept himself in line with King Zander. He watched quietly as the king moved forward and approached the general. Kairos watched in silence.

"What did you come here to tell me? I do hope you had a good reason to interrupt me and my general." King Zander spoke in a matter-of-factly voice. Not like he would have done much of anything to the guard as his mind was elsewhere, but Kairos knew he wanted to make sure the general stayed in line.

The general lowered himself further, his back practically parallel to the ground at this point. "W-Well...I know you didn't want me to c-come back when I told you they escaped, but...we got a s-signal a-a-a-and..."

Kairos noticed the king's eyes twinkling at that. If he looked in a mirror, he would notice the same thing for himself. He was aware of that the guard was referring to. He would have smiled if he wasn't in the king's presence.

"Ah, so they have encountered the fox and the hound?" At the guard's nod, the king gave a small, thin smile. "That is good news. Thank you. You are dismissed."

Kairos watched as the general scurried along. He had mixed emotions about him leaving. On the one hand, he did want to get back to talking with the king. He hated interruptions. But on the other, he was a little disappointed not to have someone lower than him nearby. He was always afraid he would slip up one of these days and offend the king.

He turned his head and casted a wary glance over to King Zander. He kept his own head low and waited for orders. He was uncertain of exactly what the king had planned, and what he was going to do with this new information. He would find out soon enough.

King Zander looked over at him. He held his head up high in an almost haughty kind of way. A distinct look that a king would give to show how important they were, and how pleased they were. He rarely saw King Zander give this look. It was reserved mostly for when he was very happy with how something turned out. And it wasn't common for him to be extremely happy about anything.

"Come along with me, General Kairos."

Kairos jolted at that. The king had used his title as well as his name. He only did that for things that were really important.

"Come with me. We need to head to our...surveillance room." King Zander turned and began to walk away. "I need to make sure the guard was correct.

Kairos nodded his head. Quietly, he slinked along behind the king and followed him down the hallway.

sss

Great. Just fucking great. Of all the children it could have been, it was those two.

Denny gritted his teeth as he stared at the photograph Ian printed out for him. He told Ian to stay in his security room for now while he tried to think. He needed some time alone to try to figure out how he was going to do this.

At the moment, he was in his own office. The same one that was broken into earlier by those two brats. He sat down in his chair, swiveling himself from one side to the other. His eyes remained locked on the photograph, where he could distinctly see the forms of Rudy and Penny moving towards his office.

He narrowed his eyes. What could those children have wanted in here? They were normally in the children's section or waiting in the front for their parents, or eating lunch or whatever. He didn't have as much of a problem with them compared to other children. The fact that it was them who had broken into his office caused him to feel almost betrayed.

What should he do? He had no problem with reporting one of the other snot-nosed brats. But these two, they were a different story. He had spoken to their parents before. He usually had nothing but positive comments to say about them. Especially the girl; she seemed to keep the boy in check.

Then again, there was always a time to make a mistake. Rudy and Penny were children after all. It was only a matter of time before they did something to disappoint him. He was just sad that it happened so quickly.

He was going to have to call their parents. This place was prohibited to children. They shouldn't have been back here. If his boss was going to turn a blind eye to this, then it was up to him to say something. Considering how close these parents were to their kids, then contacting them was the first step into changing things around here.

As he reached for the phone, he couldn't help but look over behind him. He stared at his room, from the chalkboard, to the papers that he had, to some other stuff he had laying around. He couldn't help but wonder just why those two were back here in the first place. What did he have back here that fascinated them so much? He just couldn't understand it.

Well, he would worry about that later. Right now, he had to get a move on and call the parents.

He picked up the phone and he began to dial the number for Penny Sanchez's mother. He heard the phone ring a few times. He waited patiently, tapping his fingers. Soon, he heard someone pick it up.

"Hello, Dr. Sanchez speaking."

"Hello, miss. It's me, Denny the librarian." Denny did his best to sound calm and professional. "I have some regretful news regarding your daughter."

sss

King Zander was pleased with what he was seeing. He continued to stare at the monitor in front of him, tapping his fingers together with a delighted smile on his face. Yes, this is what he liked to see.

He and Kairos stood in a darkened room, lit up only by the monitor in front of him. Dual monitors specifically, each showing a different, yet similar, image. The 'camera' itself was moving around constantly, never holding still. As a result, the picture was blurry. He could still see enough detail to know what was going on.

The red tinted imagery that he and Kairos were watching showed the children and that centipede running. They could hear the desperation in their voices, their pleads for the creatures to stop chasing them, their shouts of frustration.

From the sound of it, and the look of it, they had been running for a while now. Exactly how long, King Zander couldn't say. But that didn't matter. The fact that the dog and fox had found them at all was good news enough for him at the moment. There were still other things that needed to come into play. But that would be all in due time.

He noticed that Kairos had looked away. The bird zoner never could handle watching fast videos for long, despite the fact that he was a bird. One would think he was used to this sort of thing by now. But oh well. He had caught the gist of it, and that was good enough.

King Zander kept quiet for a few minutes. He found the video to be pretty enjoyable. It was remarkable how they were all able to keep ahead of the dog and fox like that. Especially the dog, considering her natural talent. Even more incredible was the fact that Rudy's left arm was broken and Barney's wings were torn off. Even in all that pain, still they managed to keep ahead.

He had to wonder how long it would last. Just how long would they be able to keep this up? It wouldn't be forever. They could keep running as fast as they wanted to. Sooner or later, something had to give. They were fighting a losing battle. Just how did they think they could cope with a fox that couldn't be caught, never falling into traps, and a hound that always catches her prey and couldn't be stopped?

King Zander gave a broad smile at this, his eyes twinkling. He would be much interested in seeing how these guys get out of that situation. It would be quite enjoyable to see if they could make it out. That would be quite a feat.

Around and around, Laelaps and Teumessian zipped. They rarely strayed away from each other for long, and when they did, it was always in opposite of each other, one taking the right flank and the other taking the left flank. They complimented each other, one making up for the weakness of the other. Together, they were unstoppable. That was why the king placed them together.

Curiously, even when they got close, they didn't try to bite or claw at their victims. They were content on just running. They were toying with the group. This was of no surprise. King Zander was well aware of their playful nature, and how they liked with mess with people's minds. He wondered how far they were going to take it this time.

The only thing that drew him away from looking at the screen was when his general, Kairos, cleared his throat. "Sire...I..."

King Zander turned his head and stared over at the general. His stare startled Kairos and he took a step back. "Is there something on your mind, Kairos?"

The bird nodded his head meekly. "Yes. I was wondering if...if there was...a-anything you..." He stumbled over his words.

"Just spit it out!"

Kairos spoke quickly. "I was wondering if there was any specific task you wanted me to do.."

King Zander thought about this. He stared at Kairos, remaining silent, for a few moments. He turned and looked back at the screen. He watched as the human children and the two zoners screamed and ran. Soon a smile spread across his deer-like muzzle.

"Actually, Kairos... There is." King Zander turned his head and stared at the expectant Kairos. "I do have an important job for you to do."

As Kairos bowed in acceptance, King Zander turned his head back towards the screen. His smile only grew more twisted as he focused on the image of Rudy and Snap running alongside each other.

sss

"I don't know...how long I can...keep this...up.." Snap panted heavily, his tongue hanging out.

"Don't stop!" Rudy cried as he looked behind him. "We still have company!"

Behind them, the white form of Laelaps was not far. She still had that sultry kind of look to her and she was moving in quickly. Her long legs attributed to her speed, and it was clear that she could easily catch them in a matter of seconds.

What was frightening Rudy more was the fact that she had been holding back. Behind that red glow of hers, he could see that she was only playing with them. Laelaps and Teumessian both had been deliberately moving slower to give them more time to run. And for no other reason other than just to have fun.

This chilled Rudy to the bone. The fact that anyone could actually take pleasure in this twisted activity...

"Rudy! Look out!" Snap's voice hollered.

Rudy turned his head and he nearly tripped to the side when Teumessian jumped towards him. His claws narrowly missed him, almost grazing along his skin. The sudden attack caused him to eventually lose his footing and he fell into the ground. He cried out in pain when he hit against his arm.

Snap rushed to his side. "Rudy! Bucko! Are you all right?"

Rudy hardly heard his friend. His mind was swirling in pain as he clutched his arm to himself. His body gave a few pained twitches, his teeth clenched and breathing in and out quickly. It was only after a few moments that he opened up his eyes.

Thought his blurry vision, he could see Teumessian approaching them, his partner not far behind. Just like before, they weren't attacking. They just stood there, watching, smiling. It was quite unsettling. Rudy, in his pain, wanted to shout at them to get it over with. Yet he was certain they would still act like it was some kind of game.

"Over already? That is a shame. We were having so much fun." Teumessian stated. He sat down on his haunches, his tail swirling around behind him almost like a cat that was watching its prey. "Unless you have more for us?"

"We hope you don't give up." Laelaps joined Teumessian at his side. She remained standing, taking on a proudful stance. "That would be a waste of our talents. We thought you would put up a better fight than this. Please prove us correct."

Snap hissed at them. "Why don't you two creepazoids go jump off a cliff?!"

Teumessian sneered, "You are quite the sparker. Perhaps you can encourage your friend to get up?" He tilted his head to one side. "Let us make this enjoyable."

Snap bared his teeth at this. "Enjoyable for you, maybe! Just what kind of sick fiends are you?!"

"We are not sick." Laelaps stated. She closed her eyes, lowering her head. "We are only being ourselves and enjoy life. Perhaps you should do the same." She raised a foot into the air, showing her claws to him. "At least, while you are still able."

"Guys!"

Rudy, Snap, and the two canines turned their heads to see the approaching forms of Penny and Barney. They had worried expressions plastered on their faces. They looked at Rudy with great concern and were about to ask how he was. The sight of the two canines made them freeze in fear.

This delighted the two canines.

"Ah the rest have shown up. Perfect." Said Laelaps.

"Now the chase is complete again." Agreed Teumessian. "Let us restart now? Get up and run. Be quick. And give us more of a challenge."

"Yes." Laelaps wagged her pointed tail from side to side. "It is getting tiresome for us to slow down just to give you a better chance. Soon, we will stop, and you will be dealt with quickly. We do not want that. Entertain us."

Then the two canines began to advance towards them slowly.

Rudy growled at this as he leaned against Penny, who helped to support him. He could hear everyone panting. He wasn't sure how much more running they could do. They had already used up a lot of their strength in the chase. How much further could they really go before they would collapse?

They couldn't stay here. They would get caught for certain. But..with how good these two seemed to be, they were going to get caught anyway. It seemed that no matter which way they went, which trick they had up their sleeve, these two just wouldn't stop. They would somehow always manage to keep up with them, they were faster than them, they ran circles around them...

There was only one option they could take. He shifted himself around so he was facing one direction. He didn't know where he was, where they'd be going, but anywhere was better than here.

"We have to get out of here!" Rudy cried to his friends. "Let's go this way!"

"But we don't know where that..." Penny started to say.

"There's no time!" Rudy shouted at her. "It's either we go now or..."

He didn't get a chance to finish when the dog suddenly lunged forward. Her body moved so swift, it almost looked like she didn't have any hind legs. She landed a foot away and she snapped her jaws at him, narrowly missing his arm, before jumping back.

The sudden motion caused Rudy to let out a scream and he stumbled backwards, nearly falling down. He shook his head and he glared at Laelaps, who simply gave an amused chuckle at his near accident.

Barney's scream caused them to whip their heads over and they saw that Teumessian had taken advantage of their distraction and jumped on top of Barney. His claws dug into his back and he gave one of his open wounds a long, slow lick. Barney let out a few loud whimpers of pain as he tried to grab the fox. Teumessian simply jumped out of the way, avoiding capture. He returned to his partner's side.

"Yes, that's it. Fight back. We like it." Teumessian said with a giggle. His pointed snout was stretched into a slightly more mischievious smile. "It makes us feel alive."

The group glared at them, but they didn't waste a second longer there. Taking Rudy's suggestion, they all fled once more.

This time, they stayed closer together. Last time, they had split up, thinking it would help. All it did was bore the two canines and they wound up choosing to torment two of them just for fun. They could only guess that splitting up had been done several times and the two canines wanted something different.

But it wasn't like Rudy cared what they wanted, and he doubted his friends did, either. All they want to do was get out of here. To hell whatever they think. They were just a couple of sick zoners and they weren't worth the time.

The group ran across the forest floor. It was hard to tell where they were. There were more trees in this area. Not as densely packed as the other forest still, but it was both a blessing and a curse. This did slow down the canines a little as they couldn't simply run straight at them. But at the same time, it slowed them down as well.

They grunted, growled, and hissed in frustration and fear as they kept having to slow down and run around a tree, jump over fallen branches, jump across small puddles, whatever else they had found on their way. They nearly tripped over some grooves in the ground.

Snap let out a yelp when he fell victim to one of these grooves his body slamming into the ground. He managed to get up, but he started to limp. Barney helped him the best he could, though he did yelp in pain when Snap accidentally touched his wound. He quickly apologized as they resumed running.

Rudy tried to keep up. He was now able to run on his own without Penny's support, but the pain that wracked through his arm was still there. He couldn't it from creeping all along his arm and onto his shoulder. It made him wobble a little to the side. He did his best to push the pain aside as he continued to run.

All the while, the fox and the hound were close behind them. He could hear their chuckling. He could see the way they were darting around them. Even in front of them. The sight of this was unsettling and he could see the looks of fears growing even more pronounced on everyone's faces.

They watched as Teumessian jumped onto a tree above them, hung by his tail for a second, and then land in front of them. Standing on two feet, he said, "Want to try harder?"

The group turned and ran off in a new direction. This one seemed to take them along a small creek, not unlike the one they had been in earlier. This time, it was Laelaps who came over. She jumped along the stones with ease, as if she were merely floating on air. She jumped across the water and in front of them. She gave them a nasty grin.

"Oh so close. But nope, sorry."

The group gasped at this, and they turned and tried another direction. They didn't get far before they realized the line of foliage in front of them was blocking a drop down.

They screamed as they slid down the slope. It curved and twisted, almost like a spiral ride. They collided with each other, oofing as they hit one another. Rudy stifled a scream as his arm was hit, tears forming in his eyes. He held his arm to himself as he and his friends were spun around and around. The spiral seemed to on forever, but it really only lasted a couple seconds, then they were flung outward and hit against solid and muddy ground.

Snap spat out the mud and rubbed his tongue. There was a disgusted look on his face. Bareny simply took off his vest, rolled it up, snapped it out once, and put it back on. He shuddered in pain as the cloth grazed over his wounds.

Penny picked herself up. She brushed herself off. She seemed to have the least problem with the mud. She looked over at Rudy and grabbed onto his right arm. She pulled him up, helping him step out of the small log that his foot was caught in. He quickly thanked her, and the group started to get a move on.

Only to realize that there was nowhere to go.

To their horror, this was a dead end. Right in front of them, a wall of dirt and rock grew out, stretching up back to where they were initially. They had fallen into some random hole in the ground, possibly dug out by someone who was exploring here. They didn't get very far, judging from how small this bottom pit was.

They had nowhere to go. Rudy had lost the laser thing from before. During the chase with these two canines, he had lost it. He grumbled to himself for being so clumsy. And they had no magic chalk. How were they going to get out of this?

They would have to think of something soon. He could hear them starting to come down the path. Their footsteps were light, yet they still somehow echoed in the walls. They heard every scream, every hum, every breath. They could see their shadows along the walls, contorting and stretching and mushing as they got closer. The group huddled close together, prepared to make a final stand against these monsters if they had to.

Rudy gritted his teeth. There had to be some way out of this. If he knew more about these two, then maybe there could be something they could do. But where could he find...

His eyes widened. He turned his head towards Barney. "Hey, do you have any information on Laelaps and Teumessian?"

Barney looked at him in confusion. "What? I told you, Rudy..." He held his hands up. "I don't have the information! Well nothing new anyway. All I know about them is what you and Penny and Snap already know."

"Yeah, Bucko. I know Barney has a wealth of knowledge and all that, but even he can't pull information out of thin air." Snap chimed in.

Penny, however, was tapping a finger against her chin thoughtfully. It seemed that she was getting some idea. "I might know where you are going with this..."

"Oh really? Well can you inform me? Because I still don't know what..." Barney's voice trailed off when the sinister cackle of the canines could be heard. It would seem that, this time, they weren't going to just toy with them and run off.

They were moving in for the kill.

Rudy spoke quickly. "You know how everything...well...almost everything here is based off greek mythology in some way? Well the creatures mostly and... well do you get what I'm saying?" At Barney's nod, Rudy continued. "Well what if these two are based off such a myth? Maybe there's a greek story somewhere with them in it?"

Snap cocked an eyebrow. "I hadn't heard of any Teumessian or Laelaps."

"You know..those names do ring a bell..." Penny rubbed her chin as she tilted her head upwards. "I think I came across something like that before in the library..."

Rudy stared intently at Barney. Right now, he was their best chance. If they were going to survive this, it all depended on if Barney could pull up any information they could use. He hoped that this would work. It just had to. "Barney, please...there has to be something..."

Barney remained quiet. Rudy kept his eyes glued to his. He silently pleaded with him. He hoped that Barney would be able to pull something up. He had to at least try, right?

The sound of footseps, louder, and a taunt or two, caused hairs to raise on their backs.

"We are coming."

"Best prepare."

"We will not let you run again."

"Please hurry!" Rudy cried to Barney.

The centipede closed his eyes, placing his fingertips together, and concentrated. The trio watched as his pods lit up for a few seconds. Then only the pods with the letter L and the letter T remained lit. They started to scroll rapidly as Barney looked through them.

Barney mumbled to himself. "No, that's not it." A few seconds later, "No...definitely not."

Rudy watched him intently, feeling adrenaline rush through his body. He could feel his body tremble, his fingers shaking. He looked back and gasped when he could see an almost perfectly shaped and sized shadow for Teumessian. They were running out of time.

Penny and Snap watched nervously. Snap kept looking more frequently at the shadows. His fists were tightening, and it was clear that he was going to fight if he had to. Penny kept her eyes solely on Barney. She had a hopeful look in her eyes. She whispered a few soft words, and Rudy could only guess that they were prayers for him to succeed.

As this went on, Teumessian and Laelaps were drawing ever closer. They had slowed down their pace significantly, and were now walking at a snail's pace. They were purposely increasing the tension, drawing this out for as long as possible. A side effect of being bored or from being sadistic, neither were certain. It didn't matter; it was still just as blood chilling.

Rudy looked up, watching the shadows get closer, and he looked over at Barney. He gritted his teeth, feeling his heart pound.

Snap spoke up, his voice tinged in nervousness. "Did you find anything out yet?"

Barney shook his head. "No, I..." Suddenly he stopped, his eyes widening. He raised his finger into the air. "Oh I think I got something!"

"What is it? Tell us before they arrive!" Rudy didn't want to rush Barney, but they really didn't have any options.

Barney seemed to understand. He nodded at the trio, giving them a determined, serious look. He closed his eyes and tapped his fingers together as he began to relay the information to them.

"Both Laelaps and the Teumessian fox are from an ancient legend from the greek mythology. Let's see... Laelaps is a magical dog who always catches her prey, and the Teumessian Fox was a fox that could never be caught..." Barney paused at this. "Well we already knew that."

"Yeah..." Snap folded his arms and frowned at him. "Go on..."

"Oh yes, of course." Barney cleared his throat. "The details are fuzzy, but it mentioned something about how a god pitted the two against each other, and Zeus had to turn them into stone, then banish them, because of their paradoxical natures. A hound that always caught her prey against a fox that couldn't be caught."

Snap frowned at this, tilting his head. "I don't get it."

"Don't you see?" Penny was the first one to realize the gravity of this. "Those two working against each other would create an endless cycle. The fox would always get away and the dog would always chase." Penny brought her fingers together, and then spread them apart. "They would be caught in an infinite loop."

Rudy's eyes widened at this. "So if we get them to go against each other..."

Penny looked at him, smiling and nodding her head. "We could get them to chase each other."

"That's all well and good, but..." Snap raised his shoulders up. "How are you going to do that?"

Penny narrowed her eyes. "I think I have an idea."

Rudy hoped so. Because now Teumessian and Laelaps were coming into full view now. He could see the tops of their heads, their ears twitching. He could hear their chuckles of amusement. The time to act was now.

sss

Penny had no idea if this plan would work. A part of her was worried that it wouldn't, and that it would only hasten their demise. Yet there was little option at this point. She just hoped that Teumessian and Laelaps would give them enough time for her to finish the plan. If they decided to jump at them now...

She watched, biting her lip, as the fox and hound came down slowly, coming into view. They were walking side by side together, their feet movements practically synchronized. Penny gulped. The movements looked so foreboding, despite them not making an aggressive move towards her or her friends.

They all backed up towards the wall. They pressed their bodies against it. The two canines moved in slowly, their glowing red eyes remaining on them. Their smiles were looking even more twisted than before, if that was even possible. They cringed at the sight of them. And when they flashed their teeth, their stomachs practically left their mouths. It was only a matter of time before they decided to end their little 'game'.

Penny had to make her move now. If she waited much longer, then it could easily be too late. She narrowed her eyes, cleared her throat, and took a few steps in front of her. Rudy, Snap, and Barney looked at her in horror and called out her name. She ignored them as she glared at the two canines in front of her. They had paused, twirling their tails around as they eyed her eagerly.

"What is this? Surrendering yourself to us?"

"Oh how delightful! But disappointing."

"Yes, couldn't you have at least begged?"

"We are so bored."

"We thought you would be entertaining, but we guess we were wrong."

Penny grimaced at those comments, but did not respond to them. She narrowed her eyes and hunched her shoulders. The others were counting on her to pull this off. She stopped hesitating and she made her move.

"I do have a question, if you do not mind me asking." Penny said. She smiled. A forced smile that hurt to be made, but she still did it anyway. The two canines immediately paused and looked at her with curiosity. "Which one of you is the leader?"

"Why, that is I." Laelaps said.

"Now hold on!" Teumessian turned his head towards her. "I thought I was in charge!"

Laelaps chuckled. "In your dreams."

It appeared to be working, but it wasn't enough to provoke them into a fight. Penny had to continue. "Well, the one in charge should be the one we should fear the most. Which one of you is the best at catching your victims?"

"Well that's obvious. I am! I'm the one who can't get caught. Therefore, any trap will not work on me!" Teumessian puffed himself up with pride.

Now it was Laelaps turn to growl. "Now just a minute! I'm the one who can always catch her prey! That would make me tougher!"

The fox sneered at her. "Well you can still get caught, right? Wouldn't that mean your prey will get away? Some hunter you are!"

Penny took a step back as the two canines turned towards each other. Any synchrony they had before was gone. Their speaking became more similar to how they would talk, not in unison and not in harmony with each other.

Her plan was working. She could feel herself almost sigh in relief. She managed to hold back, knowing that any sound at this point might distract them. She moved closer to her friends so she could whisper to them without being conspicuous or noticed.

Teumessian's ears pricked up. "Oh yeah? At least I don't smell like I hadn't bathed in a hundred years!"

Laelaps's lips curled into a snarl. "And I'm not the one who likes to lick random trees!"

Penny took a look at them as their arguing started to grow a little heated. Now was their best chance of escape. She looked over at her friends and she ushered her head to the side, urging them to go. One by one, they all started to leave. They walked along the ground carefully, moving to the side of the canines and then moved up the spiral. All the while, they kept as quiet as a mouse.

Even as they kept going, they could still hear the arguing. Looking over the edge, they could see the two canines still down there. At this point, they had gone onto their hind legs and they raised themselves up, looking like a couple of dogs who were begging. Their heads were lowered and pressed against one another.

"No, I'm the best one for this job!"

"I'm the one who is in charge here! So why don't you..."

"No I am in charge! Liar!"

"Oh yeah? You want to settle things?"

"No, because why should I reclaim what is mine?"

"You stupid bone spitter!"

Penny and her friends watched this for a moment, noticing how the two canines were moving forward and began as their heads were still paced against each other. Their teeth were bared, and even from up here, they could hear a low rumbling sound.

Despite the relief that they weren't targeted and amusement on how these two were manipulated to go after each other, they knew they had no time. They knew that, at any second, those canines could use their moves against each other against them. This was enough to make them quicken their pace, leaving behind the two arguing zoners.


	19. A Destination

From behind them, they could still hear the two canines arguing with each other. No blows had been made yet, but that could change in just a matter of seconds. They had to keep moving, unless they wanted to get caught between the endless cycle of fighting that Teumessian and Laelaps would bring to one another.

"You are such a complainer!"

"You always say you're the leader when I am!"

"You are never satisfied with anything!"

"You are a selfish pile of fur!"

"At least I don't inhale ants while I sleep!"

"I don't do that!"

The bickering went on for a while. The volume of their voices increased. The tension between the two rose greatly. The two canines were going to break into a fight soon if they didn't stop this escalation.

This realization prompted the group to move even faster out of there. They did not want to get caught in the middle of this kind of fight. The chances of those canines keeping their fight down there were slim. They would likely roll their way back up here and collide with them. Then they might realize they had been tricked and...

They didn't want to know what would happen in that case. They kept moving up the spiral platform, doing their best to keep a steady, brisk pace.

This wasn't as easy as they thought it would be. The way up was taking a lot more effort than usual because the ground was slick. There were barely any rough edges that would have allowed them to steady themselves. Instead, they just kept slipping with each step. Each time, they nearly lost their footing and fell into the ground. It took help from one another and a lot of vigilant effort to keep themselves from losing their footing.

They kept walking, occassionally looking over the edge to see if the two were following them yet. The higher they went, the harder it became to actually see either of them. Just small forms and shadows. Only their voices gave away that they were down there.

"You think you could lead? You don't have the guts!"

"I already lead! It is you who..."

"Oh give me a break! If you led, we would have been cooked by now!"

"How would you know?!"

"Ah, so you admit to not being the leader. Isn't it nice when you admit when you lie?"

"You little...!"

The group flinched when they heard the sound of yowling and yipping. The fight had begun. They continued to move up, trying to go faster as claws clanged against claws, teeth gnashed on teeth, and the two bodies collided with the rocky ground, kicking up dust.

To their horror, their fears had come true and the canines were starting to chase each other up. They looked behind them, and could see Laelaps and Teumessian attempting to attack each other. Most of their blows missed, and it was mostly a series of attempted bites on one another. They were still engaged in the hostile exchange of blows, their teeth snapping at one another.

So far, the two canines hadn't noticed them. Their eyes, no longer glowing read and having returned to their normal color, were focused on one another. They circled each other, their tails poofed and raised up in a dominant stance. Their teeth were bared, sparkling in the light.

Teumessian jumped forward and bit down onto Laelaps's throat. She let out a yelp before pushing back against the fox. She slammed her jaws towards his tail. He managed to jump out of the way in time, missing getting pulled back. They circled each other again and Laelaps jumped, this time managing to collide with the fox. This only lasted a few seconds as Teumessian managed to slip underneath her and run back the other way.

The group let out sighs of relief when they heard the fox and the hound heading down in the opposite direction, back down to where they were before. Knowing this wouldn't last very long, they continued to move upwards until they were finally back on the top again.

They took a moment to catch their breath. They looked at each other, exchanging looks of relief. They breathed in and out quickly, filling their lungs with oxygen. Only when they had fully recovered did they continue on their way.

They kept moving quickly, knowing that the more space they put between them and the two canines, the better. They continued walking fast, all the while hearing the yowls and yips of Laelaps and Teumessian fighting behind them.

sss

Rudy let out a sigh of relief when they reached an open field. Not because he was happy to be in a place of no trees. That brought its own problems. But he had his doubts that the two canines would follow them out here. They were out in the open and wouldn't be able to sneak up on them. Out here, no one could get the jump on them.

It did also mean they'd have to move even faster. The feeling of insecurity was starting to outweigh any benefits this place might bring. The lack of any water in sight also proved to be a problem. Snap and Barney were exhausted, just like he and Penny were, and here, they wouldn't be able to quench their thirst.

Though he isn't sure if they would even dare drink from another water source here. Not after what happened. Rudy was certain that water had something to do with the canines. Just what, he isn't sure. But he wasn't going to take the chance again. The zoners would have to fight the thirst just like he and Penny were.

The group stood on the soft grass, now about twenty feet away from the start of the previous biome. They continued to pant, their minds still swirling from the unfortunate encounter earlier.

Rudy took this moment to look around at the hilly, grassy field they were now in. The boy flinched when he looked up and saw that the tunnels were zigzagging overhead. He didn't notice if anyone was looking down from there. But he knew that if anyone was up there and if they looked out the window, they would easily see their forms moving across the ground. If they only had access to that laser from before... Oh why did he have to be an idiot and drop it?

Well they could use their hands to dig. The ground felt soft enough for that.

It would take too long. They wouldn't be able to reach their destination in time. They...

Rudy's eyes widened. Just where were they going now? They had been assaulted by a snake and harrassed by a fox and a dog. They had been running around so much, it felt as though they had lost their way. Now he can't remember which direction they were going. What was the destination now?

The first thing that came to his mind was finding their submarine and leaving. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. He would be happy if he never set foot in this awful place again. It can stay lost for all he cared.

When his eyes settled on Barney, another thought came to his head. What about King Mumbo Jumbo? He was still trapped here. It wouldn't be right to leave him locked up with these lunatics, would it? They had to go save him.

There was one problem with that. They had no idea where he was being held. Barney had never mentioned the precise location, or if he even knew. Without that knowledge, there was no way they could help save the tortoise. Rudy would ask now for the information, but Barney looked too shaken up and tired to answer all that well.

But...they had to know now. Despite how tired they all were, they needed to start heading out, and they needed a determined destination, not running around in whatever direction they could. That only made it more likely for them to get caught.

Rudy made his way towards Barney. Penny and Snap noticed the look on his face. They watched intently as he went over towards the centipede. Barney was busy cleaning his antennas, and only noticed Rudy when he was right in front of him.

"Rudy?" Barney looked at the boy, releasing his right antenna, letting it spring back. "It looks like you want to say something to me."

"Actually yeah. A question." Rudy had to be careful how he went into this topic. It was sensitive for the centipede. The way he worded this was crucial.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Barney asked. When Rudy nodded his head, Barney folded his arms against himself. "Okay, what did you want to know?"

Rudy took in a deep breath and sighed. This was it. The moment of asking. He looked back at his friends, seeing their curious expressions. Penny's had a spark of recognition in them, and Rudy guessed that she had figured out already what was going to come out of his mouth.

He turned his attention back to Barney. He was patiently waiting for him, one foot tapping to some invisible beat. Rudy didn't speak up right away; he needed some time to think about how he was going to word this. When he felt he was ready, he spoke his question in a calm voice.

"Do you know exactly where King Mumbo Jumbo is being held?"

Barney's eyes bulged at this. Penny straightened herself up, her eyes shining with a 'I knew it' kind of look. Snap put a hand towards his mouth, looking like he wanted to speak, but being unable to get it out.

Rudy kept the same stern yet curious and worried look on his face as he kept looking at Barney. The centipede didn't attempt to do anything. It was as if he was stuck on pause mode. If it weren't for the inflating and deflating of his chest, Rudy would have thought that someone shot him with a frozen spell or something.

"I..." Barney's voice was soft.

"I know it is hard for you to think about what they did to you...to King Mumbo Jumbo." Rudy tried to keep himself from bringing up the fact that there were some holes in Barney's story he wanted to know. Right now, there were more important things to worry about than filling in the extra information. "But...we do not want to leave without him, and I know you don't either. Please, Barney. If you know where he is, tell us, and we will make arrangements to go there."

"Yeah. He's our friend, too." Penny approached them slowly. "We might not have known him for nearly as long as you..." Penny motioned towards the centipede. "But we are willing to do whatever it takes to get him out of there."

Snap nodded in agreement. He slammed a fist against his palm. "We will make sure those creepazoids don't torment him anymore!"

Barney gave a small smile at this. It only lasted a second before his worried complexion returned. He looked away from them, and appeared to be deep in thought. They guessed that he was reliving what had happened, and they decided to give him all the time he needed.

Barney soon looked back at them, his eyes looking at them up and down. He appeared to hesitate, but he was able to force the words out of his mouth.

"He was taken to a high security prison the last I heard. I don't know the name of it, or the precise location. But...I do remember overhearing one of the guards say something about it being located not too far away from the palace. I guess King Zander likes to keep tabs on his 'guests'..."

Rudy widened his eyes at this. He looked over at his friends. He could see they were just as shocked and nervous as he was. They all knew what this meant. If King Mumbo Jumbo was located back in that city...

...then they would have to travel back there to get him.

Rudy could feel his heart tightening as he tried to deal with the difficult decision. He had to decide what was best for the group. Which course of action should they end up taking?

They could keep on their current course. They could keep traveling in their present direction until they found their way back where they came from. They could leave and never have to come back. They wouldn't have to see or hear from King Zander ever again.

But what about King Mumbo Jumbo? They couldn't just leave him. They could travel back to the city... But they could get caught. How would they be able to sneak in? Surely the king had sounded the alarm at this point, and most zoners were probably on the lookout for them now. They needed to figure something else out. But...what could they do?

Then a chilling thought entered their minds.

Would they even be safe from the king on the surface?

King Zander did say that he had spies on the surface, and Barney had confirmed this. Even if they did escape here, what if King Zander planned on going to the surface? If he could send up spies, why not himself? Or an army? What if King Zander wanted to bring all of the surface down into his oceaniac kingdom? There was little to suggest this wasn't a possibility.

They had to do something about this king. Arresting him wasn't an option. He was top dog around here and all the residents appeared to respect him. No, their best option was to find a way to seal them in Chalklantis for good, cutting off their ties with the surface completely.

But first, they needed to focus on one task at a time. And right now, he needed to decide what they should do.

Keep trying to find the exit, but forcing Barney to leave his friend behind.

Or save King Mumbo Jumbo, but risk getting caught by King Zander.

"Getting to this prison won't be easy, even if we did spot it." Barney looked at the ground sadly and nervously. His fingers fumbled against each other. "They always have it guarded. And I heard it's not by pigs like we had seen..."

"Boars." Penny corrected.

Barney went on. "Instead, they are supposed to be large crabs, with tall spines running along their backs that I think can shoot more spikes, and their pinchers are huge and razor sharp, they have four or six eyes at least, and their bodies are covered in a hard shell that makes it hard to harm them."

Snap gave an impressed whistle. "I can see why it's so well guarded."

"With that kind of security, there must be a number of zoners in there that had opposted the king in some way. I can imagine him using this place to keep them 'in line', so to speak." Penny furrowed her eyes as she thought about that. "I can see why he'd send King Mumbo Jumbo there..."

"How are we gunna find this place?" Snap raised his hands into the air. "If we're going to save this guy, we need to know which direction we should be headed in." He looked at Barney. "Any ideas?"

Barney closed his eyes. "If I had my wings..." His voice trailed off.

The mention of that brought back a series of bad memories to the group. They could hear Barney's screams and the sound of ripping and tearing when Kairos had tortured him earlier. The trio gave him an understanding look and didn't press him to continue.

Rudy attempted to change the subject a little. "I'm sure if we think hard enough, we might be able to figure out something."

"Yeah? Like what? In case you hadn't noticed, we're out in an open field. With nothing to climb on. No advantage point." Snap gave a quick look around. He turned back to Rudy. "What do you suggest we do?"

Rudy folded his arm against himself, tapping his foot. There had to be something they could do. Then his mind clicked. "Wait... Barney?" He looked over at the centipede. "Maybe that map would help? I know it's outdated, but maybe it could show us about where the castle is."

"That is a good idea, Rudy." Penny stated. "It's unlikely that King Zander would waste time building a new palace for him to stay in. We could use the old map to find its location, and from there, figure out where the prison is."

"I'm sure we would be able to spot it quickly." Snap said. "I'm sure that the so-called king would want everyone to know what would happen to those who cross the line."

Rudy nodded in agreement. "We don't have to know the exact location of the prison. If we just figure out where the palace is, we can go from there." He took a step towards Barney. "Can you pull up the map again?"

"Well okay." Barney closed his eyes and concentrated. One of his pods began to glow and soon he was able to pull up the map. He turned his head and looked at it. He gave a frown. "This is problematic. I can't tell where we are."

"Oh? Let us see."

The trio walked towards the centipede, their eyes on the pod. They leaned in and stared at the modestly sized screen. The map was small, but they could still see all the details that it provided. They skimmed around it with their eyes and soon concluded that Barney was right. There were no dots to indicate their location.

This was of great concern. Without knowing exactly where they were, they wouldn't be able to figure out which way they were supposed to go. How were they going to find King Mumbo Jumbo now?

Rudy frowned. He refused to give up. There had to be a way to figure out their spot on the map. Maybe if they zoomed in, they could see hints of some important details perhaps. Or they could just keep traveling until they reached a biome with a tall structure to climb on. Whether it be a tree or a rock face.

But would traveling without knowing where they were be the smartest idea? What if they ended up getting caught again? They would need to discuss this further before making any definite decisions.

sss

The decision was soon made, and they decided their best option was to keep moving. They needed to get to the next biome quickly. It was hard to tell what it was from this distance, but they were certain they could see some trees. This was good news as it would allow them an advantage point to figure out where they were.

They continued to walk, rarely speaking to one another. None of them could think of what to say, and all they were focused on was getting away from here. They kept their eyes glued forward, turning their gaze from one side to the other, carefully scanning the land for any signs of trouble.

They didn't run into much of anything out here. There were a few birds they saw overhead. They stiffened at the sight of them, wondering if they could be working for King Zander. They wanted to rush forward and get out of their sights faster, but Penny told them no, that it would just draw attention quicker if they did.

Despite the tension of possibly being watched, the group managed to keep moving forward. They eventually came to realize the birds were likely not spies when they started to fight one another for some scrap of food that one of them was carrying. Another looked like it was trying court a female, and another male didn't like it. Then one of the males won and... The group averted their eyes after this, not interested in seeing this miracle of nature right now.

Besides the birds and the occasional mammal, something like a weasel, the group didn't really run into many animals out here. This was of little surprise to them. Except for those who could burrow or fly, this open space was just inviting danger.

That changed when they saw a herd of large deer with a few sharp teeth lined in their dark-colored mouths. They were placed between two large hills, pressed close together, some young in the center, protecting them.

They realized it was dangerous to keep moving forward. The deer might see them as a threat to their young and attack. They were about to leave when Rudy suggested that maybe there was a water source not far beyond the deer, and perhaps this was the edge of the biome. But Penny disagreed and reminded them of the sheer size of the Shadow Forest and the Canine Forest. It was unlikely that this biome would end so soon.

Penny turned out to be correct. When two male deer spotted them and chased after them, they ran towards their usual direction, trying to outrun the bucks. When they came over the hill, they saw that it just dipped downward and spilled into another open field. Just like the other one, only it was flat with little hill creation in sight.

They did, however, come across a large lake. It formed a near perfect circle. From the looks of it, this was the only water source of this biome. They immediately jumped into it and swam forward. Barney ignored the pain in his shoulders as he carried Rudy, Penny, and Snap towards the center of the huge lake. Penny and Snap held onto Rudy to keep him from falling off.

The bucks stopped by the water. They stared out at them, their cold, black eyes somehow shining with intent. The group stared at them in fear, wondering if they were going to walk around the two edges of the lake and confront them at a point. But thankfully, the bucks were satisfied with their chase and they wandered off.

The group got out of the water and dried themselves off the best they could. They stared at the deer for a few seconds before they resumed their walking, their hearts still pounding from that chase.

Despite their fear, they started to enjoy the walk. It wasn't too bad. It was a good temperature. Nice and warm. There was hardly any danger anywhere, and even the tunnels above them seemed to diminish in number, which helped them relax more. They looked left and right, taking in the sight of the plain yet pretty looking landscape.

It was kind of nice to finally being able to explore a little. Even though this wasn't what they had in mind. They knew they were on the run from the king and trying to escape, but that didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy themselves a little, and take in the sights all around them. Somehow, despite it all being the same, it didn't get boring. Maybe it was the grass, which sometimes had a rainbowish glow it, making every sight unique. Maybe it was the birds singing, playing a different song for them as the seconds passed on.

Soon, up ahead, they started to see the beginnings of the next biome. It was confusing how the biomes seem to blend together a little, and had no sharp defining point or any walls to separate them from one another. They didn't question it for too long, knowing the king's men could be fast approaching them. They continued on their way.

The biome in front of them appeared to be a jungle of some kind. It had densely populated trees, similar to the Shadow Forest biome they were in earlier. This jungle lacked that aura feeling, but still seemed less inviting than the Canine Forest. And, as exposed by a low, rumbling sound, there were animals populating this jungle. Big ones.

They looked at each other as their pacing slowed down. They had no plans on stopping, but how were they going to go about this? What would they do once they reached the jungle biome?

They needed to figure out something fast, or else they would likely become targets of some kind of big, hungry animal zoner. After their previous chases, and how little rest they were getting, they weren't sure if they could handle another chase so soon.

Before they went too much further, Penny suggested they relax. It was dangerous out in the open, but they needed some rest, and at least out here, it was relatively safe. The others agreed and they sat down on the ground. The feel of the weight being lifted from their sore feet felt so good.

They took this time to begin planning. As they spoke, they kept turning their heads to make sure no one or nothing was attempting to sneak behind them. They kept speaking with each other, each hoping that they would get out of here, reassuring the others that they would.

But that was a huge question that none of them were certain could be answered yet.

Would they get out of here?

sss

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of bright orange eyes were watching from a distance.

Kairos was glad that he had been created with such magnificent eye sight. Even perched high on the tallest tree of this sparsely populated forest biome, he was able to see the three brats and stupid insect. He could see all the details, as if he were standing right in front of them.

He hadn't been here for too long. The king had sent him out here and he flew as fast as he could. He had arrived in time to witness them being chased by the herd of deer. As amusing as it was to watch, he was glad they made it away. It wouldn't have been as much fun if they had perished to the deer.

He remembered his king's orders and he remained put. He had no plans on flying out right when they resumed their walk. It was too risk to fly out any further. They might spot him. That would blow his whole mission.

Instead, he was going to have to wait until they were in the cover of the forest, then he'd fly over real quick, always keeping high above the ground to avoid being spotted.

He replayed his king's plan over and over again in his mind. He wasn't entirely sure if it would work, but he dare not question King Zander. He knew what he was doing. After all, he knew just how to bring them down in the first place, and he knew how they were going to react when he told them the lie about disappearances. He had only miscalculated a few things, and even then, things were underway.

That didn't mean that he didn't have some level of doubt. What he had planned now was tricky. It all rided on what these four were going to do.

That was where he came in.

The group was moving now. They were going towards the jungle. Kairos stared at them intently. When they began to enter, he spread his metallic wings. It was time to make his move.

sss

"This place is pretty nice. A lot better than that stupid Shadow Forest." Snap said as he tilted his head up and looked around this new biome.

The others couldn't exactly disagree. They had only just entered the jungle and already they could tell it was a lot better, more comforting than any other biome they had been in. From a distance, it didn't seem like it, but now they were in it, this place made them feel the safest.

Plenty of places to hide.

Plenty of room.

Plenty of light.

This was a huge improvement over the previous biomes, which were either densely populated but had a darker aura to them, especially the Shadow Forest, or they were well lit yet out in the open, like the Canine Forest. This was a happy balance between the two and it allowed them to feel safer as they walked through it.

They didn't stand around too long to look around. They casted a glance behind them, taking one last look at the Open Fields before they started to go on their way.

Snap couldn't help but take in a deep breath, smelling the frest air all around them. He listened to the chirping of birds, the scurrying of small lizards and mammals, the buzzing of insects. It almost sounded like a lullaby of some kind, making his mouth tick into a small smile. This was one of the most relaxing things he had heard since they got here.

But he never lost sight of what kind of situation they were in. They may have rested for a little while, but they were still a little tired. And though they tried to plan, they couldn't really get any further than 'explore'. Normally he loved exploring, but here, he knew that one wrong move could get them all recaptured.

He remained close to his friends. Both for comfort and to offer them security. They felt safer together, especially after what happened with the last couple of biomes. In each one, they got chased. They couldn't afford to let that keep happening in each biome. They would tread lightly in this jungle one.

He feared for his friends. He...they all witnessed what King Zander was capable of doing. Now that they had expected, they had no idea just what to expect from the king. Would he be 'merciful' and just keep them fighting in the arena for the entertainment of his people? Or would he do something much worse?

Snap wanted to do whatever it took to protect them. And he knew they would do the same for him and each other. But he wasn't sure if it was going to be enough. The king had a lot of followers, a ton of loyal citizens. Just how much of a chance did they stand at protecting each other if they were surrounded by at least twenty guards?

They weren't going to give up, regardless. They would do whatever they could to help one another, even if it seemed futile. They were all they had in this forsaken place. If the Chalklantians wanted to take that way from them, they would have to use force.

Snap wasn't sure how long they had been walking in this jungle biome. Probably only a few minutes. It felt so much longer. Time dragged on as everyone remained on edge on some level despite the relative calmness of this place.

It must be the trees. Snap looked left and right, noting all the trees around them. They did feel safe at first in here, under the shade of the trees. But now the horror was starting to settle in, and suddenly, this jungle was feeling less and less safe. What kind of angers was this place hiding? All the more reason to get a move on.

Suddenly, there was a snap of a twig, causing all of them to jolt and stiffen, looking left and right. Despite his broken arm, Rudy put himself in front of the others, forming a fist with his hand. Penny looked at him cautiously while Snap looked out in another direction, his body hunched as he prepared for an attack. Barney was facing the opposite way, worried that the sound was coming from somewhere behind them.

The echo of the sound made it near impossible for them to know which direction the sound came from. This did little to comfort them. They could feel a cold chill go up their bodies at the realization that someone might be following them.

"What was that?" Penny whispered.

"I don't know." Rudy turned his eyes upward. "I think it came from above, but...I can't tell."

Barney was still looking behind the. "I'm not seeing anyone trying to flank us from over here."

"Or here." Penny noticed as she looked at one direction.

"And I can't..." Snap's voice trailed off when he noticed something in front of them. He tilted his head to one side, wondering what it could be. He began to walk towards it. "Wait a minute..."

"Snap? Where are you going?" Rudy called out to his friend. "Don't stray too far!"

"Don't worry. I won't!" Snap told him as he continued on his way.

Snap could see something whitish near a thick bushy foliage. He was cautious when approaching it knowing that this bush could be dangerous, or hiding some dangerous animal. Each step towards it was slow and careful, and he had frequent pauses before continuing on.

With his eyes focused on this white thing, he slowly drew closer, and soon he stood just outside of the foliage. He paused, unsure of how to continue. The only way to get the item was if he reached his hand inside. Could he risk that? What if there was a venomous snake there?

But what if there was something in there that could help? At this rate, they could use all the help they could get.

Snap closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to compose himself. Gathering up as much courage as he could, he dropped down onto his knees and reached out with his hand slowly, carefully.

These few moments were tense. He could feel his heart pounding. He could feel sweat moving down his face as he constantly expected to get attacked, or to fall into some sort of trap. He could feel his friends' eyes on him, hear their voices calling out to him to be careful or to get back. All the while, Snap kept reaching for the white thing.

Soon he touched it. He wrapped his rounded hand on it and he quickly pulled it out. He scrambled to get away from the bush as quickly as he could. Once he was felt he was far enough away, he looked down at the item that he had taken.

His eyes widened. It couldn't be... It would never be this easy, right? Not again..

Yet the item felt too real. No matter how long he stared at it, there it remained. It even sparkled like the real deal.

It was another piece of magic chalk.


	20. Calling For Favors

A piece of magic chalk. The second one from today. Just laying there, with no indication of how it got there. It seemed like it was too good to be true. How would a rogue piece of chalk end up out here? Why was this happening? What was going on?

It could be seen as a blessing. They needed magic chalk to help themselves get through here. There was little chance they’d be able to save King Mumbo Jumbo, let alone get out of this place without magic chalk. Even if they did find a way, they had a lot of obstacles to overcome, namely getting past King Zander and Kairos, and those who followed them.

But something was feeling really wrong about this. A piece of magic chalk just appearing out of the blue once was strange enough. But for another to appear? That seemed like too big a coincidence. Something was going on here. The group looked around for any signs of someone there. Though they found no one, they kept themselves on edge.

Penny kept her hands raised up and pressed against herself in a nervous fashion. She moved her eyes around to get another look at her surroundings. This forest did have a lot of animals and plants, as they could very well see and hear. That alone made them all nervous enough, as any of these animals could decide to attack them. But to know what there might be someone watching them from between the foliage... It was unsettling.

Penny had thought about telling Snap to chuck the chalk, but she kept her mouth shut. Despite the uncertainty of the whole thing, she still felt a compulsion to keep the chalk.

But what if it was fake? What if it was something that King Zander created in order to track them? Having it there with them would only increase the odds of them being found then. But...what if it was real? It certainly looked like it was real magic chalk. And if it was real, wouldn’t they benefit more from taking it than throwing it away?

Penny was at a loss of what to do. Her mind was at war with itself, fighting to decide how to handle the magic chalk. Either throw it away in case it was a trick, or keep it in case they needed it. Both had their ups and downs. Which one should they choose?

“I wonder how this thin’ got all the way out here.” Snap rubbed the back of his head as he examined the chalk. “Could it be one of yours?”

Rudy shook his head. “I doubt it. The king took mine, remember? And Penny’s.” He motioned towards Penny. “After that trouble of separating it from us, do you think he’d just leave it scattered across the land like this? Unguarded?”

“It would seem really strange.” Penny had to agree with Rudy’s assessment. Something seemed really off about what Snap had suggested. “He doesn’t want us to be able to use our drawing skills. I think he has the pieces locked up in his room somewhere.”

Snap frowned. “Then where do you think he got the magic chalk from then?”

Penny paused to think about this. Snap did make a good case, too. She and Rudy were the only ones who came here recently with magic chalk. It was possible that the pieces they had found did indeed belong to them.

But that wouldn’t explain how they got there. King Zander would have kept them locked up, wouldn’t he? Or was it possible that someone among that palace found the pieces and decided to shatter them and spread them across Chalklantis just because they could? That seemed odd, but maybe the individual thought they were decreasing their odds of finding the pieces like that.

But there was another possibility. She wasn’t sure of the likelihood of this, as she knew less about magic chalk as her friends. But it was the only other thing she could come up with that might make sense.

“Maybe the chalk pieces came from previous creators who were here?” Penny raised her hand up in gesture. “I know you and Snap told me that there had been other creators in the past. Maybe one of them is the true owner? And we just happened to stumble upon it?”

Snap shook his head. “I don’t think so, Buckette.” Snap pointed his hand towards her. “Magic chalk rots.”

“Yeah, Penny. The last kid before me is an adult now at the very least. That would have been a long time ago. The chalk would have been rotten by then.” Rudy said.

“Precisely. It would be illogical for this magic chalk to come from a previous creator.” Barney said as he lit up one of his pods. He scrolled through the different entries until he came to one that talked about past creators. There was an image of a few small children running around with magic chalk. “The last kid here...”

Penny recognized the image of the scottish kid that had created Biclops. She flinched when she saw his expression. He looked a little meaner than she remembered.

“He was last seen in ChalkZone probably forty years ago. Or maybe mid thirties... Either way, a few deconds.” Barney twirled his hand once as he spoke. “That would be long enough for any piece to rot. At least in ChalkZone. I’m not sure about the Real World.”

Snap folded his arms. “And I doubt any of them had come back recently.” He raised his arm up. “We would have heard the news all over ChalkZone!”

“Hmm.. That is true...” Penny rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Then the only other conclusion is...”

“That it’s Rudy Tabootie’s chalk.” Barney said. “And yours.”

That didn’t make much sense. Penny could not fathom why the king would do such a thing. There was little reason for the king to do that. He didn’t want them to escape, and surely he must be looking for them now. Why would he leave the chalk pieces for them to find?

Unless... he didn’t.

Penny’s eyes widened a little as a new idea came to her mind. One that she hadn’t considered earlier. What if they were getting help from the inside? What if someone from the kingdom who did not agree with the king’s ways was giving them a helping hand?

It was entirely possible. Not all kings pleased all their citizens. There was always room for disgruntlement. Maybe someone working for the king, perhaps one of the slaves, took the chalk pieces and scattered them?

Wait, how was that possible? This new idea had some holes in it that she found difficult to plug. She wasn’t sure if anything she thought of right now would help solve this mystery. They could keep an eye out, but that’s what they’ve been doing and still they find no one. This meant the pieces had to be placed ahead of time. But...how...?

Well that was enough thinking about that. They had wasted enough time trying to figure out what to do with the chalk. They needed to get a move on.

Turning to Rudy, she said, “Rudy, why don’t you use that chalk to draw yourself a sling?” She looked at his arm and grimaced. “You could risk further injuring it.”

Rudy had a mixed expression on his face. “But..what if we need it later on?” He looked at the chalk that Snap still held in his hand. “We could end up in another tight situation if we don’t have it.”

“I know, Rudy. But if you don’t do something about your arm, you may become too incapacitated to draw.” Penny had a hard time looking away from his arm. She was glad it was not an open break, but the sight of the large bruising still chilled her.

“She has a good point.” Barney said. “Your arm makes for an easy tarket. You should try protecting it in a sling.”

“But...are you sure? What if we need it?” Rudy looked at them all sadly, rubbing his hand on his left arm, avoiding the break. “I don’t want to use up our only chance of escape.”

“And we don’t want to see you get hurt.” Snap took a few steps forward, going towards Rudy. He looked at the piece of magic chalk that he held. He then turned to Rudy and moved his hand towards him. “This piece is pretty big compared to the last one. I think you can draw a quick sling and then save the rest for an emergency, can’t you?”

“Well...I suppose I can.” Rudy took the magic chalk. He then looked at the others. They all watched him expectantly. He turned back to the chalk and then nodded his head slowly. “All right then. Hold on a moment.”

Penny watched as Rudy began to draw himself a small sling. She smiled at this. The sling wouldn’t stop attacks, but it would keep his broken arm from dangling off to the side. It would also be harder to anyone to grab onto, as it would be pressed at the side of his body.

In a few seconds, Rudy had the sling drawn. He put the magic chalk in his pocket and he started to try to set up the slung for himself. He did not do so well and he ended up yelping in pain. Penny grimaced at this. Perhaps he should have drawn a makeshift cast as well. This would have to do. Recalling that her mom had her help with putting bandages on some animals, Penny walked towards him.

“Let me try, Rudy.”

Rudy did not offer up any fuss. He handed her the sling he had drawn. She held in her hands for a few seconds while she eyed Rudy up and down. Once she figured out a strategy, she moved closer.

“Now, hold still.”

sss

The travel through the jungle was so far largely uneventful. Despite all the creatures they were hearing, none of them had tried to attack. They couldn’t be sure what it was, if the animals were terrified of them or busy with something else or what. The lack of movements against them did offer them some comfort. This was already better than the last few biomes they were in.

None of them would let their guard down. That was one mistake they refused to do. Though the past two biomes seemed safe, they had run into trouble with both of them, and the first one had that winged snake. This place was filled to the brim with animals. Any of them could decide to attack. Or even all of them.

The thought of that made Rudy keep his arm rested against himself. He looked down at it for a few moments. His left arm was now supported by a sling, tied around behind his neck. This was such a relief. Now he didn’t feel like his left arm was going to get caught somewhere during a chase or moving through thick foliage. Even some of the pain had eased up when his arm was being rested up at level.

Penny had done a good job of applying the sling. Rudy didn’t do so welll at holding still, though. He yelped in pain the moment Penny had touched it. It required the help of Snap and Barney to keep him still so that Penny could apply the sling.

Although it was painful, Rudy was grateful for it. He apologized for his behavior. His friends were understanding. They gave each other a reassuring hug before they continued on their way.

Rudy glanced over at Barney. He thought about using the last bit of chalk to draw some medicine for him. He held off on it for now, as they had to keep moving, and he wasn’t even sure what to draw anyway. He did still feel guilty for not doing anything, and he made a promise to himself that if they found another piece of magic chalk, he would draw something for Barney’s wounds.

They continued to move through the jungle slowly, keeping their eyes ahead, watching out for danger. They all did their best not to scream or jump at the sounds of the animals. Penny warned them that any sudden movement may trigger an attack.

Not that keeping calm and quiet would have helped either. They were aware that acting this way could also make them targets to some animal zoners here. There was really no safe way they could travel. No magic chalk and no proper equipment. This was all going to be based on luck.

It didn’t help that they did catch a glimpse of some animals. Not very many as most of them were hiding. But to any of them who had a keen eye and a quick head movement, the sight of a few animals could be noticed. Though some of the animals were herbivorous, most of what they had seen were carnivores, which made them feel even less safe.

They could see the shadow of a wild griffon tearing apart its meal. They could see the blur of a smaller, comparitively less dangerous manticore hunting down some small animal. And a serpent-like dragon glided in the air, snapping its jaws at what looked like a smaller version of itself.

One of the very few herbivores they saw was a unicorn. It had its head lowered towards some water. Its split hooves were pressed against the ground, and they could hear its tongue lapping away. When Snap stepped on a twig, the unicorn swiveled its head and looked at them. It lowered its head, pointing its horn at them. This prompted them to move faster. Thankfully, the unicorn did not give chase and just resumed drinking.

A wild hippalectryon was also out here as well. It was in a partially open area. Its tail feathers were relaxed, dragging along the ground, while its horse-like head was nibbling at the grass. This one looked less ferocious than the one that they had to fight earlier, but the memories of that beast made them feel no less safe here. So they picked up the pace.

They continued on their way, traveling through the thick foliage. While they moved along, they couldn’t help but admire the beauty of this place. Yes, it was dangerous. Yes the animal sounds were making them nervous. But they would be lying if they didn’t admit to thinking this place to be pretty.

Rudy looked all around, taking in the sights around him. The trees were plentiful here. Not as much as the Shadow Forest, but more dense than the Canine Forest. The trees were a bit thick and somewhat tall, with bright green leaves covering the branches. Vines were lowered down, many dangling against the ground. Tall bushes and ferns also covered the landscape, as well as flowers and other plants that they could not identify.

Off in the distance, they could see some mountains covered in green at the top, with some tall trees that could be seen even from this distance. A thick fog covered the land, making it difficult to see all of the details. But, as they stopped for a moment at a clearing along the edge of a cliff, they could see some faint details of green, and the shadows of a few birds that flew down, possibly returning to their nests.

Such a place reminded the group that, despite their cruel treatment here, Chalklantis really was a beautiful place. It made the trio sad that they weren’t able to properly explore this place. If the king wasn’t such a...a creepazoid, then everything would be a lot better.

Or peraps just not coming here at all. Rudy wished they had ignored the letter. He wished they had listened to Penny’s cautiousness before. Then none of them would have been in this mess.

But then...no one would have come to help Barney or King Mumbo Jumbo.... They were trapped here, too. If he and his friends didn’t come, then..who would have helped them...?

All of a sudden, he heard some kind of sound in the distance. He couldn’t tell what it was at first. It was too far away. Or maybe the trees were blocking it. He cupped his hand to his ear and leaned to one side, hoping to catch the sound next time.

There it was again. A little distant, distorted. But still there nonetheless. It didn’t sound like a roar per say. It sounded more like a shout. The exact emotion behind it, he couldn’t figure out. But whatever emotion was there, Rudy could tell it was strong. Perhaps it was anger or annoyance. Those seemed like the highest probability.

The sound of the voice did make him freeze in fear. Just who was all the way out here? Was it more of the king’s followers? Was it someone else who was unrelated to the kingdom? If so, were they dangerous? Should they go in a new direction?

He looked at the others. They appeared quite nervous as well. They were glancing at each other as they listened to the distant yelling. He could see the expressions in their eyes and tell that a million thoughts were going through them.

“Penny...?” Rudy asked cautiously. “What...do you think we should do...?”

All eyes turned to her.

“Yeah, do you think we should proceed forward or try to find another way around?” Asked Snap.

“Well, I...” Penny paused for a moment, turning her gaze upwards as she thought. After a few moments, she looked back at them and said, “It might be better if we...”

Barney’s antennas straightened up and he whipped his head to look behind him. Without warning, his arms shot out at their sides, his fingers spread and stretching. “You might want to hold that thought for later, Penny! Run!”

The trio watched as Barney immediately bolted to one side. They barely had time to register this when something large burst through the foliage. They looked up in horror as they jumped away. They landed in different places. Rudy winced as he felt his leg bend a little the wrong way in the process. They all remained where they were, panting for a few seconds, before they opened their eyes and looked up at what had came in.

There was a massive, reptilian creature standing before them. It had a thick body with a thinner yet still muscular tail swirling behind it. It was tipped in a webbed-like blade. It only had two limbs, which were centered around the middle of its body. Thick and strong, they easily supported the massive, solid black creature’s weight.

Huge, wing-like fins jetted out the sides of its body. They were bent downward, almost like the creature was about to take flight. Part of the membrane attached to the neck, about half way up. Around this point, the neck split into three heads. They all possed long jaws and super long teeth. Their mouths were open and they hissed loudly, flicking their long, snake-like tongues as their necks danced around. Their piercing yellow eyes were hard to look away from.

Sitting on top of it was a human-like zoner. He was dressed in some kind of stylized armor and held a long spear with a serrated, curved tip. With the way he was holding it, it almost looked like he was going to strike someone with it.

He glared down at them, his eyes barely visible behind his decorative helmet, which held a couple gold and red gems in it. He pointed his spear directly at them in a threatening manner. “Who goes there?!”

Rudy was frozen, and couldn’t respond right away. Whenever he tried to speak, he would just stammer, his tongue slipping over his words. The silence did not do well for the newcomer, and his eyes narrowed further and he moved the blade closer to them.

“Answer me!”

Luckily Barney seemed to have found his voice. He cleared his throat and raised his hand up a little to get the human zoner’s attention. He looked at the spear nervously, but nonetheless was able to proceed talking.

“H-Hello there! We’re just some travelings coming through. Please pay us no mind.” Barney grinned nervously. From the tone of his voice, he was not used to conversing with someone else like this. Considering his isolation, this was of no surprise to the trio. “Who might you be?”

The humanoid zoner narrowed his eyes. “My name is Theron, the best hunter of this forest. And when I ask you a question, you best answer it in full! Now...” He narrowed his eyes dangerously, looking poised to just slice Barney right then and there. “What. Are. Your. Names...?”

“Oh well I’m B-Barney and these are my friends...” Barney motioned to the others, who started to wave their hands nervously. “Rudy, Penny, and Snap.”

Theron’s eyes widened at this. “Did you say...Rudy and Penny and Snap..?” He tilted his head to one side. “Those are the three who are with you...?”

Rudy didn’t like the way the zoner was looking at them, nor did he like the sound of his voice. He didn’t sound at all happy to hear about them, and it almost sounded like he was hiding something important. They wanted to run, but with that beast, they wouldn’t get away much longer. And there was almost nothing Rudy could think of to draw in the moment, his mind frozen in fear.

Theron was quiet for a few moments after they all nervously nodded their heads. He seemed to contemplate what he was going to do with them. His expression was undreadable; it was impossible to tell just what he was thinking about. None of them knew the fate that was in store for them. Was he going to capture them, kill them, or something else?

The silence was quite tense. Their teeth were clenched and their muscles tightened. Their minds roared them to run, yet they could not move. It was as if Theron had some kind of power that disabled their leg muscles. All they could do was stand there and wait.

Rudy glanced down with his eyes, staring at where his magic chalk was. Even though he knew there was too little left, a part of him was telling him that he had to pull it out and use it. All his instincts were warning him of the threat that Theron possessed and reminded him of his past experiences with the Chalkantians. Theron wouldn’t be any different. He had to make his move now.

Theron spoke before he could. “All right then. The four of you, come with me.”

Snap took a step forward. “And what if we don’t?”

Theron patted the back of the multi-headed serpent. “Then I will sic my pet drakon on you. She does need the exercise, don’t you Aris?” He stroked her side gently, speaking to her like she was his big baby.

Rudy clenched his teeth. He glanced at his friends, noting their expressions. His mind swirled as he thought about what choices they had. What should they do?

sss

“Stay close to me and stay quiet.” Theron ordered the four. “I do not want you to startle anyone here.”

Rudy nodded his head as he and his friends followed close beside Theron. They looked left and right, taking note of their surroundings.

After agreeing to follow, Theron led them down a different path in the jungle. After what was likely twenty minutes, they had arrived at their destination. Of course, to even get there, they had to move through some thick foliage and walk along some difficult-to-navigate grounds. These grounds were covered in fallen trees and twigs, giving away that some zoners were living here.

Now they were in their town. It wasn’t very large. Rudy thought that maybe there were only twenty houses here or less. There were multiple humanoid zoners here, some with a little bit of animal features. Most were staring at them as they gone by, most regarding them with a sense of fear. None of them made a move towards them, but that did not make the group feel safer. These zoners could carry just as much hatred towards them as the Chalkantians in the city around the palace.

They walked along a dirt trail, which was a little muddy likely from the water source nearby. A large river cut along below the edge, and they could hear it splash up against the rocks. The green and colorful foliage was everywhere, encasing the town in its beauty, offering both shade and plenty of light to shine through from the light crystal above them.

The buildings around here did not look all that impressive. They were a bit worn out, some tilting a little to the side. They weren’t too bad by any means. Nothing like the slums of a city. But compared to what they had seen in the palace, this was second rate.

This place had very few statues, and the ones that did looked moldy, a little rotten, about to break apart. There appeared to be some attempts to fix them, but it was clear that it wasn’t working.

About the only place here that looked a little impressive aside from the plants that grew around here was the market area. They were passing through it now, doing their best to avoid the zoners walking through. There appeared to be a stand for every house, with every zoner selling something. Fruits, vegetables, meats, household items, all sorts of stuff. They looked even more impressive than most that they had seen back on the surface.

Rudy wondered just what Theron wanted to do with them. He hadn’t attempted to tell them anything; just follow them. He glanced at his friends. They exchanged worried looks with each other. It was far too late to run now; these zoners may catch them easily.

Rudy watched as Theron was leading them towards some gate. The smell of animal filled the air and he realized they were being taken to the holding chambers. His heart skipped a beat and his panicked mind wanted to run. Only the hiss of Aris was able to keep him going forward. Theron pushed open the gates and they walked inside.

It was only after they were heading towards the tall cages that Theron began to speak.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I took you here.”

Rudy swallowed dryly and nodded his head. “You...never told us what you were going to do to us.”

Theron stopped, prompting the others to stop as well. They looked up at him expectantly. “I have...heard tales of you three. Gossip might stay largely in the king’s city, but some of it does reach out here.” He turned and looked at Rudy. “I am aware that you are the Great Creator. I have heard of your...exploits on the surface.”

“Are you going to blame us for the cause of your problems?” Snap asked bitterly.

Penny nudged him. “Snap!”

“Nevermind him.” Barney said quickly, smiling nervously. “He’s..just a little...um...”

“I see.” Theron stared intently at Snap, his eyes narrowed. “I see you met King Zander.”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah. He put us in an arena and made us fight a couple of beasts.”

Theron folded his arms against his chest. “I wouldn’t doubt it. That seems like something he would do. Not to worry. I have something more important I want you to do than fight for me.” He jumped off of Aris and took a step towards them. The spear was still held in his hands, but at least it wasn’t being pointed at them anymore. “I need you to do me a favor.”

Rudy frowned slightly at this. “Like what?”

“I am aware that you help people on the surface, am I right?”

At this, Snap nodded his head. “He helps a lot of people!”

“Ah, good. Then maybe he can help me with this.” Theron reached into a sleeve in his robe. He moved it around inside for a few moments, and then he pulled out a picture. He handed it to Rudy. “I want you to find her. Althea. Aris’s daughter.”

Rudy lifted up the picture and looked at it carefully. Pictured was another drakon like Aris, only smaller, lighter in color, and probably faster, too.

“The little scoundrel had gotten out of her cage when I went to feed her. If I don’t get her back, the chief will have my head.”

Penny flinched at this. “Is your chief as bad as the king?” Her eyes widened when she realized what she said. She put a hand to her mouth. “I-I mean...”

Theron gave a small smile. “Ah, don’t worry about it.” He waved his hand dismissively. “None of us like the king very much.” He spread his hands outward. “Why do you think we came to live here in this jungle? The king and his minions don’t come out this way.”

“Ah, so you don’t like the king either?” Barney asked.

Theron shook his head. “He’s a top of the line crook, if you ask me.”

After a few moments of studying the image, Rudy turned to Theron. “How do you expect us to catch this critter? Just run? We’ve done enough running around and...”

“Oh not to worry about that.” Theron continued to smile at them. “That is why I brought you here.” He gestured for them to follow. “I never intended on you running after Althea on your own. You would never catch up to her. That is why you need a mount. I have one for the three of you, but your insectoid friend here must stay; I don’t have any available mount suited for him.”

Barney nodded his head. “All right then...”

Rudy, Penny, and Snap moved in front of the cage that Theron was gesturing to. When they got in the front and looked inside, they saw that there was a trio of hippogriffs. They all looked identical, with brown bodies, white heads, and golden eyes. The only things that distinguished them were different colored collars and their subtle differences in their sizes.

“In exchange for your services...” Theron went over to grab what appeared to be some black leashes and reigns that hung over a metal pole. He began to walk towards them. “I will grant you save passage through this jungle, and into the next biome.”

Rudy and his friends looked at one another. They exchanged quick looks, wordlessly speaking to each other on what they should do. There was still some level of skepticism, but Theron was the first Chalklantian they met who seemed to be genuinely friendly to them.

And the idea of being escorted by someone who knows their way around this place did sound like a really good idea. It was much better than wandering around here blind.

Having made up his mind, Rudy turned his attention to Theron. He gave a single nod of his head. “All right. We’ll help you.”

Theron smiled at this. “Excellent.”

sss

Snap couldn’t believe that they were going to play fetch quest for some guy they didn’t know during a time like this. They were supposed to be on the run and trying to get out of this place. Yet here they were, trying to find some guy’s lost pet in the middle of a jungle they know nothing about.

The least Theron could have done was come with them to make sure they didn’t get lost. Instead, he was staying back at the town, probably speaking with Barney and asking him various questions about the surface or something like that.

Oh well, there was no use complaining about it now. They had already agreed to do this. Might as well see it through. Besides, Snap didn’t want to be rude and not help. And Theron was offering help if they succeeded. They could use all the help they could get. None of them had a good idea of how many biomes they had to go through in order to get to the city. At least Theron’s help would make it easier getting through this one.

He and his friends were walking along the forest, looking left and right as they tried to find any sign of the drakon. Their hippogriffs were constantly looking as well. They did not have a strong sense of smell, but their eye sight was terrific. Or so said Theron. They hadn’t seen any evidence for this keen eyesight just yet.

Theron told them that Althea had ran off in this direction, into this part of the jungle. Supposedly, it’s more dangerous than the parts they were previously in, which made them all more nervous about coming here. Especially Rudy, who had a hard time holding on because of his broken arm. Snap could see his feet pressing against the hippogriff’s flank just to get extra grippage.

Snap had to admit, he did feel a lot safer moving through this jungle on the back of a hippogriff. A lot less work, his feet could rest, and if danger shows up, they could run away really fast, or even fly away if they absolutely had to.

He still flinched as he heard the sounds of animals all around them. The hippogriffs didn’t seem to mind. They were obviously used to this. But as for Snap and his friends, each growl put them on edge. This place sounded busier than any forest they had ever been. Penny had admitted earlier that even in a Real World forest or jungle, it wasn’t this noisy. This fact only increased their nervousness as they all imagined just how busy this jungle had to be in order for it to be this noisy.

They continued along their path. The hippogriffs moved mostly silently through the grass and tall ferns, their feet crushing the plants underneath them. The light from the ‘window’ on the ceiling shined down, and the trees all around them created a doppled kind of effect. It looked pretty nice, almost partially disguising the fact that this was a dangerous place.

They walked for several minutes and so far, they spotted nothing. Just more plants, another river, and the occasional animal. At least once, they had to keep control of their hippogriffs to keep them from running off after the animals out of instinct.

Soon, after a while more of walking, the hippogriffs suddenly stopped. The trio looked at them in confusion. The hippogriffs just stood there, their crests raising into the air, their heads swiveling from one side to the other. Their large, yellow eyes scanned the landscape.

“What’s going on?” Snap asked. “Did they spot something?”

“They must have.” Penny looked around herself.

Snap frowned at this. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Well Theron did say that these hippogriffs had better eyesight than we do.” Rudy reminded him.

Snap rubbed the side of his head for a few moments. “Yeah...that’s true.” He looked out ahead of them, his eyes desperately trying to scan whatever the hippogriffs had seen. “I just hope that it was Althea they saw, and not some random animal.”

Rudy grimaced at that. “I don’t know how many more times I’ll be able to hold off my hippogriff. He seems really eager to start chasing something.”

“Yeah, Theron did say that they do enjoy a good run.” Penny agreed. “We will have to hold on tightly when...”

Suddenly, there was a snap of a twig. The hippogriffs ruffled their feathers, their bodies getting into a new position. Their horse-like tails thrashed with eagerness, their claws scraping the ground. This could only mean one thing.

They had found their target.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, something jumped out of the bushes. It was Althea, and she was chasing some kind of small animal. She zigzagged along the ground, trying to catch it. She only stopped when one of the hippogriffs let out a low hiss.

Althea and the trio exchanged glances for a few seconds. Then Althea started to back up as her eyes turned to settle on the hippogriffs. The winged beasts began to walk slowly towards her, their piercing eyes practically staring through her soul. As they moved in closer, Snap and Penny grabbed onto the rope that Theron had given them for recapturing Althea.

Before they could get close enough, Althea let out a hiss from her mouths and turned and started to run away. This act caught the hippogriff’s attention and, with a sparkle in their eyes, they bolted off. The chase had now begun.

sss

Mrs. Sanchez had a hard time believing it. She replayed the phone call over and over again in her mind, hoping that it wasn’t true, that it was some kind of mistake. Nothing like this had ever happened before. It couldn’t be possible that...

But there was no other Penny Sanchez in Plainsville, and she had her doubts that Denny would lie to her on purpose. She might not know him as well as the Tabooties, but what would the librarian gain from lying to her?

She rubbed her head, trying to fight back against the ache that spread through it. She had been resting on her couch for a while. She forgot how long it had been. An hour? Maybe not, but it sure felt like it. Time had slowed down greatly for her as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Just..how was any of this possible?

Her phone call with the school did not make things any better. All it did was increase her worry and anxiety. She hadn’t called the Tabooties yet; she was in such a state of shock, she couldn’t even get up off the couch, let alone work up the strength to pick the phone back up and call them. She wanted to call them so badly, yet she could not get herself to move.

She was used to stress. She had all kinds of appointments to take care of, animals to treat, people to speak with. She thought she would be able to handle an emergency. But now that something finally happened, it struck her so hard, she wasn’t able to properly react. Perhaps because this was her daughter, and not a client, and her maternal instincts were taking over. She had never felt more terrified in her life than right now, finding out that her daughter was missing.

The school had told her that her daughter called in sick. As soon as she heard those words, Mrs. Sanchez knew something was terribly wrong. She informed the school that her daughter had never told her such a thing, and that she had dropped her off at the library where the school was going to pick her up.

But, as she found out, that’s not where they were going to be picked up. There was never any arrangements to meet at the library. It had all been a lie that Penny and Rudy had cooked up.

But why? Why would they lie like this? Why would they do such a thing? It didn’t make any sense. Their children never lied before. Why would they start now?

And the librarian didn’t make the situation any better. He informed her that Rudy and Penny had broke into his office earlier, and that they were both in trouble. Mrs. Sanchez agreed to speak to him to try to work something out, but she needed some time. Denny did permit it, but he warned her that if she didn’t think of something soon, he was going to have the children taken to the police station.

Mrs. Sanchez wasn’t really sure how serious he was, but it wasn’t him she was most concerned about. Her heart pounded in her chest, a sickening feeling settling in her stomach. Where was Penny if she wasn’t at on the field trip? Where was her daughter?

She looked over at the phone again. Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie... They were going to be crushed to find out that their son had lied to them, that he had gone missing along with her daughter. But as much as it pained her to tell them, they needed to know. But she wouldn’t call them. No, she had a better idea. For this situation, she felt it was better she spoke to them in person.

She pushed herself off her couch. She stumbled forward, her legs still feeling stiff and wobbly from the shock. She stood there for a few moments, trying to regain her bearings and her strength. She took in a deep breath and sighed. Then she began to walk towards the door.


	21. Encounter

The chase had gone on for what felt like an hour. Okay, it wasn’t that extreme. No way that much time could have passed. But it did feel that way.

Rudy did his best to hang on. It was not easy holding on with just one hand. He could feel his arm aching. He found it difficult to press himself against the hippogriff; the slighest pressure against his broken arm caused him to yelp loudly in pain.

His friends weren’t having much more luck than him. Even with two working arms, they still were clearly having some trouble. He could hear Snap shout at the hippogriffs to take it easy, and he could see the clenched teeth of Penny as she tried to hang on.

But nothing they did or said was going to stop the hippogriffs. They were on the hunt now. They were going to keep up the chase until they caught the critter. No matter how many flips and turns and lunges they made, no matter how much they were flipped around in the process, the hippogriffs clearly had no interest in stopping. And they were going to keep this up until they caught Althea.

They ran across the jungle foor, zipping past the plants and the other animals. They ran between trees, through bushes, jumped over fallen trees, trekked through water, whatever else came to mind. Most of the animals lef them alone, but at least a couple had given temporary chase. The hippogriffs easily lost them by taking to the air, and landing in a spot further away. All the while, they never lost track of the drakon that was trying to escape them.

At first, the movements seemed random, and Rudy couldn’t fathom what they were thinking. The hippogriffs weren’t listening to their commands like before. They were operating on full instinct. This caused his stomach to churn.

Hippogriffs were omnivores. They might be trying to eat Althea. What would Theron do to them if they didn’t succeed in bringing Althea back safely? What would Aris do to them?

This anxiety only increased when his hippogriff lunged at Althea beside a tree. Rudy shut his eyes and tried to cope with the pain when he banged against the large animal. He heard the snapping of jaws and a loud hiss. He looked up and was relieved that his hippogriff didn’t strike Althea. But he could see the panic in her eyes. He bit his lip.

He and his friends attempted again to regain control of the hippogriffs. They needed to control their predatory urges in order to capture the fleeing drakon. Theron entrusted them to bring her back safely. He was the first zoner here that had agreed to help them genuinely. They did not want to lose that support.

Their efforts were in vain. The hippogriffs ignored their pulls and their tugs and their feet against their sides. Their minds were made up, their attention full on the baby drakon. There was little that could be done to stop their pursuit. They had the stubbornness of a mule and the killing intent of a tasmanian devil.

“Whoa!” Snap cried as his hippogriff tried to slash at the drakon with its claws. The claws thankfully missed, striking against a tree instead. “How do we get them to stop?!”

“I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do! It wasn’t like Theron taught us how to stop these things!” Rudy hissed, clenching his teeth. He wished that Theron had been more thorough about his. He could have told them more about how to control the hippogriffs.

Penny pulled on the reigns of her hippogriff. This hadn’t been the first time she tried. And just like before, it failed. She shook her head. “We will just have to keep trying. That’s all we can do.”

And keep on trying they did. Despite repeated failures, there was little else they could do. None of them were willing to just give up and let the hippogriffs have their way. They couldn’t subject Althea to that, plus how would that reflect upon them? How would Theron and the others feel if they found out that they did nothing more to stop the hippogriffs? They coud lie, but who is to say he wouldn’t find out eventually?

While they endlessly tried to regain control of the hippogriffs and stop them from trying to attack, the hipppogriffs themselves kept up the chase. Althea rarely left their sights at this point. The hippogriffs’ sight allowed them to see her and they always managed to catch up to her. Many times, they got close enough to attack. At least half the time, they’d try, resulting in poor Althea to screech in fear and running off in a new direction, only to have one of the hippogriffs block her path.

The whole thing was becoming frustrating. How were they going to get the drakon back to her mother if the hippogriffs kept trying to rip her apart? They thought about dismounting, but that would only make it worse as they wouldn’t be able to catch up to her anymore.

Rudy had some magic chalk, but in his present state, he was not able to use it. He glanced down at his pocket, feeling a pang of frustration as he realized that if he grabbed it, he would only cause himself to topple off the hippogriff and possibly hurt himself more.

He cursed to himself when he realized he could have just given the chalk to Penny. She still had both her hands working. She could have drawn something. Now it was too late to give her the chalk.

Soon they entered a clearing. There was a tall mountain here, covered in various patches of green foliage. It curved around, nearly making a complete closure. Only a small opening existed.

And it was through this opening that the baby drakon had ran through. She easily slipped inside, the gap being wide enough. The hippogriffs followed suit. They collided with the opening and thrashed around. The force of this was enough to break some rocks free, and the hippogriffs jumped into the opening.

To Rudy’s horror, the drakon had nowhere to go this time. She looked around in desperation, calling out loudly as if to signal her mother. He and his friends exchanged nervous glances and they pulled on their reigns, trying to stop the hippogriffs.

But no matter what they did, the hippogriffs just weren’t listening to them. Their bodies were hunched, heads lowered. Ther gleaming eyes stared at the drakon hungrily. They moved in slowly towards the cornered drakon, their tails thrashing from side to side. Althea’s body quivered in fright, her body lowering to the ground as she stared up at them.

Making a last ditch effort to get free, she jumped into the air, whipping her tail and hitting the hippogriffs in the face. She dashed towards the exit. Rudy’s hippogriff immediately took action. It twisted its body around and bolted towards the exit. It leapt into the air and landed right in front. It spread out its wings, lowered its head, and let out a screech, bringing its paws forward and spreading its wings widely.

This display frightened the critter, causing her to scramble back, letting out a few panicked chirps. She tried to find another place to exit out of. She tried to climb up the wall. Her claws, though sharp, kept slipping on the rocks and she never made it that far up. She soon hunched towards the ground, whipping her heads from side to side. All three of them began to display an expression of hopelessness and terror.

Rudy watched the critter with a sympathetic expression. He bit his lip, wishing he could do something to stop the hippogriffs. But given this situation, there was little reason to expect that he could stop them in time.

Two of the hippogriffs were quickly closing in around the young drakon while his remained put at the exit. It was clear that it was trying to block the path to make sure the drakon didn’t escape. Rudy could get off the hippogriff now and draw, but with a broken arm, he’d be delayed, and the hippogriffs were moving too quickly for him to react.

“Wait!” Penny cried. “Stop! This isn’t what you were ordered to do!”

Snap pulled on the reigns as hard as he could. That did little to deter his hippogriff. “Cease this at once!”

But all they could do was sit there and wait for the hippogriffs to make their move. Preparing themselves for a gruesome sight, they shut their eyes and looked away.

sss

Theron smiled as he watched the group walking back into the town. “Ah I see you succeeded.”

Barney looked over and felt a sigh of relief escaping him when Rudy, Penny, and Snap were walking into the town. Their hippogriff mounts were walking in a formation. Two at the side, one in front. He could see the shadow of something walking between Penny and Snap, who rode on the side hippogriffs. He could soon make out the details of the drakon they were sent to retrieve. They were using rope to hold onto the drakon.

Rudy was on the hippogriff in the front. He held a look that showed not only relief, but a whole hidden story behind what had happened. He looked as if he had almost given up hope, or something else had happened. Barney would learn sooon enough what that was.

The trio walked forward slowly, further into the two. The zoners had gathered around and watched them carefully. None of them moved in too close, keeping their distance as they stared in awe and uncertainty. The hippogriffs held their heads up eye as if to show how proud they were of what they did. The trio looked relieved to just be done with all of this.

Theron stood with his arms folded. He smiled at they got closer, running his fingers through his brown hair. His thin frame and slightly thicker arms were soon shadowed partially by the beast that Rudy rode, which also happened to be the largest one.

Theron studied them for a moment before walking to the side of the hippogriffs. He grabbed onto the rope and began to drag the baby drakon over. He led her towards his larger drakon. The youngster immediately screeched in eagerness and bolted towards her mother. Althea cuddled up against her mother, who immediately lowered her heads down to nuzzle her. There was a collection of awes coming from the zoners around them.

Theron put his hands on his hips and watched this with a smile. He then turned to the trio. He placed a hand against his chest. “You’ve earned my trust.” He motioned his hand towards them. “As promised, I will escort you out of the jungle.”

Rudy gave a smile at this. “Thank you. We appreciate the help.”

“Not a problem at all! It would be my pleasure!” Theron sounded a lot more friendly and cheerful than when they had first met him. He motioned for them to follow him. “Come along now. I do need to be somewhere later today. So the faster we do this, the better.”

Barney watched as the three children got off of the hippogriffs. Rudy appeared to have the hardest time. He couldn’t help but give him a sympathetic flinch when he pressed against his broken arm by mistake. Poor kid... He wished he could do something to help.

He didn’t dwell on it long. He noticed that they were waiting for him, standing near the adult drakon. He immediately rushed over, not wanting to keep them waiting for long. As soon as he joined them, they were on their way, moving through the town towards another section. Instead of heading towards the pen, they instead veered off somewhere else, much to the insect’s confusion.

He looked left and right as they moved through this new part. During his stay, he hadn’t been back here. This was all new to him. He quickly noticed how the buildings here looked like they were in slightly better shape, and the paths looked cleaner, too. Even the plants looked more neat and orderly. It seemed like this part was more well kempt than most of the other locations.

But why was that? Why would this one location be more cleaned up than the rest? What was the significance of this location compared to the others? Luckily, he and the children didn’t have to wonder for long.

Up ahead of them was a large building. Bigger than the others, though not a palace by any means. It had some large windows and open doors, stone-like steps leading up to it. They traversed up as Theron led them through. As they walked inside, they noticed that there appeared to be some decorations in this place, making it stand out from everything else. And when they entered a room with a single elderly man sitting here, a fruit hat on his head, they all had a good idea of where they were.

This must be the chief’s place. Immediately, they all lowered themselves down in the presence of this man, not wanting to do anything to offend him. Even though they don’t know why they were brought here, they knew better than to cause trouble with this zoner seeing them.

Theron took a few steps forward, keeping his head low, his hands fumbling agianst each other, his fingers intertwining. “Chief sir...I...I have a special request...”

The way he spoke to the chief was a bit reminiscent of Kairos to King Zander. This realization gave Barney a headache. He rubbed his head and tried his best to push back those negative feelings.

The chief stared at him intently. His eyes could hardly be seen underneath those folds. He was quite a large fellow. Not skinny by any means. His robe was opened up down the middle and spread, allowing them to see his gut. He looked as if he is the one eating all the food of this place. The fruit hat sure hinted at that.

The chief lifted up his large, heavy arm and moved it along his forehead. His eyes, though mostly hidden, still managed to pierce through their souls. He looked from Theron and then to Barney, Snap, and the two humans. He turned his head up and down as he regarded them.

“Strangers. What are they doing here?”

“They were passing through and I asked them for help catching Althea.” Theron said in a soft voice. “They are not enemies.”

The chief narrowed his eyes at this. “It was not their job to catch Althea. It was your job.” The chief pointed a finger in his direction. “You should have done it yourself. I am very disappointed in you.”

Theron lowered himself down further, pressing his body against the ground. His back was completely exposed to the chief. “Please, forgive me... I won’t do it again... I promise...”

“I supose I can let it slide just this once.” The chief turned his head back to Barney and the others. “Now, what do you intend on doing with them?”

Theron appeared to hesitate, as if worried that his chief would be upset with his answer. This made sense. After what they had seen of the chief, he did seem like the sort that would get upset about this.

But Theron did realize that he had to tell him, or else they weren’t going anywhere.

“They need a way out of the jungle. I-I told them I would escort them.”

“You did what?” The chief’s voice was tinged in, not in anger, but disappointment. “I never gave you the approval.”

“Yes, I know. But..I felt like I owed it to them and...”

“Silence!”

This sent jolts through everyone. Barney exchanged looks with the others, biting his lip. They looked just as nervous as he did. He could feel his own heart pounding. He could hear the heartbeats from his friends, intermingling with his own and echoing in his head.

Looking at Theron, he noticed that he had cringed down even futher. He looked more helpless than he ever did before. He wasn’t even trying to get up and run away. If the chief decided to hurt him now, there would be no way he could get out of the way in time. The only way that he would look even more helpless was if he laid down completely, which Barney honestly thought was up next, if this continued on for much longer.

The chief stood up and took a few steps forward. With them so low to the ground, Barney and the children could easily feel the vibrations. Every step that this zoner took sounded heavier and heavier. It made him appear less goofy, and more intimidating. His weight appeared to compliment his power.

The chief stared at them for a few seconds. He studied them carefully, his squinted eyes looking at them up and down. He then finally turned to Theron. He said, “I am still disappointed that you had brought strangers into my village without telling me. I still believe that we do not owe them any favors.”

Barney gritted his teeth at that. He worried that the chief was just going to send them away and force them to find their own way out of the jungle.

Though, as the trio would agree with him, if they had to do that, they would. They got through a few other biomes without the assistance of anyone. Just each other. They could do the same for this one.

“But... This is going against my judgment...” The chief’s voice softened up a little. “I will allow this.”

At this, the group raised their heads slightly. Smiles of relief spread across their faces. They were tempted to express their joy and gratitude, but they feared they would make things worse. So they kept quiet and watched.

Theron got back up to his feet. He still kept his head and front of his body low. He didn’t even sound happy, as if he thought if he got too excited, the chief would change his mind. He merely kept his head down low, keeping silent as he waited for the chief to continue speaking.

The chief took a step towards him. He managed to fold his arms behind himself. “I will not be granting this every time. I trust that the next time you see strangers, you leave them be. Or chase them out if they become a problem. Do you understand me?”

Theron nodded his head. “Yes, sir...”

“All right then.” The chief turned his back to them. He moved back towards his chair. He raised his hand up and waved it dismissively. “You may take them away. Just don’t take long.”

“Thank you...” Theron whispered softly. It looked like he was going to say something else. The chief caught onto this really quickly.

“Before you ask, yes. You may use Thaddeus.”

Theron smiled at this. “I am grateful.”

The chief sat back down in his chair. He motioned his hand towards them. “Now be on your way before I change my mind.”

“Yes, sir.” Theron bowed deeper before turning to the others. He kept his hunched shoulders, but his voice took on that liveliness from before. “All right, lets get a move on!”

“Thaddeus?” Snap said as soon as all of them stepped out of the building. “Who is Thaddeus?”

“Another animal?” Penny asked.

“Why do you want to use him?” Rudy raised his hand into the air. “I mean, the hippogriffs worked and...”

“But what of your friend?” Theron looked directly at Barney as he said this. “I don’t think you want to leave him behind, now do you?”

Rudy bit his lip. He shook his head. “N-No.. We don’t.”

“Well that’s good then.” Theron raised his arm up and motioned with it. Upon this signal, Rudy, Penny, Snap, and Barney followed suit. “As for who Thaddeus is, he’s Aris’s mate. He’s not as bit, but he is big enough to hold your friend. And he’s a lot quicker. I’ll have you out of this jungle in no time!”

“That’s good. Because this jungle gives me the creeps.” Admitted Snap.

Theron chuckled. “Which is why my people and I chose to live here.” He frowned a little. “It was rough getting used to. Having some of these beasts on our side helped. But still...” He shut his eyes for a few seconds. “It’s a lot better than living at that palace...”

This caused the group to exchange looks with one another. The way Theron spoke of that, it made them wonder just what it was about the palace and the king that he did not like. Curiosity ate away at them, and it was so tempting to ask. They held back, knowing it wasn’t any of their business. They didn’t need to know the story to know that King Zander was untrustworthy. They had seen proof of that already.

After some walking, they soon reached another pen area, this one located behind the building they had just been in. Unlike the other location, this one only held one pen, and one single animal inside: A large, black, red striped drakon that they recognized must be Thaddeus.

Theron motioned them to follow him. Slowly, they began to approach. They stared up nervously at the beast. Thaddeus’s heads were all raised and he was looking down at them. His eyes appeared to glow and he had long sharp teeth that protruded out of his mouth, even with his jaws fully shut. He slowly rose up to his feet and began to make his way towards them.

Theron raised up his hand and made a quick gesture. The beast appeared to recognize this and he lowered his heads down towards him. Theron patted him on the heads gently, whispering soft words to him. It was quite a sight to see. It was almost as if Thaddeus was just one giant teddy bear. They would forget that he wasn’t if it weren’t for the long sharp teeth and the wicked hooked claws.

Theron climbed up on top of the drakon, his feet dangling around the base of the neck. He looked down at them and motioned for them to come. “Don’t worry. He won’t bite.”

Looking at the creature, watching him flick his tongues, the group gulped nervously and slowly approached the drakon.

sss

“There. That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Theron asked as Rudy and the others slid off the drakon, using his wing-like frills to get off. “I told you that Thaddeus was harmless.”

“Yeah, but he is also a little too loud.” Thaddeus lowered one of his heads and licked Snap along his face. Snap wiped himself off. “Yuck..and he’s also quite gross, too.”

Penny chuckled and she walked over towards him. She reached out with her hand. “Let me help you with that...”

Rudy and Barney stood next to each other as they looked up at Theron, who remained on top of the drakon. There was a moment of silence that lasted a little while as Rudy tried to think of exactly what to say. Words couldn’t fully describe his gratitude for Theron’s help.

He could tell Barney felt the same way. As well as Penny and Snap. They all wanted to get out of here as quickly as they could. They all wanted to rescue King Mumbo Jumbo.

The thought of that king made Rudy’s heart twist. He could only hope that nothing bad was happening to him now. The king knows they were gone. He might use this as an opportunity to punish King Mumbo Jumbo. The longer they stayed a way, the more they could not do for him. Rudy couldn’t wait until they got there so they could get the tortoise out of that horrible situation.

“Well...I...” Rudy tried to think of the words to say. He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. “Thanks for the help.”

“It’s no trouble at all.” Theron grabbed onto the reigns attached to Thaddeus. “Now, you be careful. This desert might be small, but it’s the hottest biome in this whole dang unerwater cave. The good news is that parts of the cave ‘fold in’ here, so you will find some shade.”

“Fold in?” Rudy asked, furrowing his eyes in curiosity.

“Well, cave formations, you know? Stalagmites, stalactites, the others...I don’t know what they’re called...”

“Oh, that.” Rudy looked towards the ground. “Sometimes I forget that this place is a cave.”

“It’s easy to forget that. There used to be a lot more ‘cavey’ structures in this cave, but most of them had been cleaned out to make this place look a lot smoother. It gave us a lot more room and it became easier to navigate.” Theron said.

“Yeah, that does make sense.” Penny came up towards them after she had finished wiping the drool from Snap’s face. “It would be hard traveling around here if you didn’t do a little construction.”

Snap looked left and right. “I wonder what this place was like before it was renovated.”

“Crowded and cluttered, I’m sure.” Barney said.

Theron stared at him in confusion. “I thought you were...”

Barney looked over at him. “The dear king had my entries messed with.”

“Oh..I see. That sounds like him.” Theron’s voice was briefly filled with bitterness. “I don’t know why anyone follows that guy.” He sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, I need to head back.” He raised his hand and waved at them. “Good luck!”

“Bye!” The group cried as they waved goodbye to him. They watched as Theron and Thaddeus left them alone at the edge of the desert biome.

Rudy stood there, staring out at the desert. Theron wasn’t joking about it being small. Even from here, he could see the beginnings of the next biome, which appeared to be a mountain sector. They could see the tall structures from over here. Many of them appeared to jagged. Rudy gulped at the sight of them. He hoped that traversing through there won’t be too much of a problem.

Knowing they couldn’t waste anymore time, he turned his head to the others. He gave them each a nod. “Let’s get going.”

They nodded in return. They turned their attention to the desert biome. Slowly but surely, they all began to walk into the desert, preparing themselves for the worst. At least, once they get into the next biome, they would be, hopefully, one step closer to getting out of here.

sss

Hot...so hot... When were deserts this hot? Why couldn’t they be a little cooler? Or at least a bit wetter? It didn’t help that there were multiple light crystals in this section. The heat from them could be easily felt, making the air around them feel thicker and heavier.

It didn’t help that there was no wind here. There wasn’t wind anywhere in this place. It was fine when they first arrivd, as the city they had gone to wasn’t that bad. It was a decent temperature. And even in the previous biomes, it wasn’t too bad, though the jungle was a slightly different story. But here, in the desert, it felt like they were going to collapse and melt at any time.

Oh if only there was some water around here. Just a small glass of water would do. That’s all they wanted. Just some water...

Snap could feel his tongue dry up as it hung out of his mouth. He smacked his lips a few times, feeling just how scratchy his throat had become in such a short time. He had his eyes halfway open as it was hard to open them up all the way. He was walking slowly. He needed to conserve his hydration. But it felt like the longer they took, the more water he was going to lose.

But as they kept walking along the hot sand and heated rocks, he knew that they couldn’t just start running. They needed to keep themselves as hydrated as possible, and this meant conserving themselves. They had to be very careful of how much they walked and how quickly. They were already a little dehydrated from the previous biomes. They didn’t need to make things worse for themselves.

Then, after a while of walking, they noticed something that was a relief to their sore eyes.

One of those cave-like structures that Theron had told them about. Some rocky thing, which somehow still looked cold despite being in a desert, jetted out of the ground and formed an arch. It wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, but it did look like it offered shade. And it was at the halfway point, too, which was perfect. They could use this to relax for a few minutes and cool off.

They looked at each other and nodded their heads once. They didn’t need to speak to each other to know what they all wanted to do. All of them had exhausted expressions and dried up tongues. None of them would object to going underneath the rock for some shelter.

They moved as quickly as they could without breaking into a run. Their brisk pace made them feel hotter in the desert, but with the welcome of the shade, they didn’t mind it too much. They kept moving and soon they reached the shelter. They immediately moved inside, underneath the wonderful, beautiful shade.

The temperature difference in here was incredible. It was almost as if someone had jacked up an A/C here. Snap collapsed on the ground, pressing his face against the cold sand. Such a welcome feeling compared to the heat of the outside.

Rudy and Penny sat down on the ground, pressing themselves against a rock. Barney settled down as well, his many legs and feet splaying out at his sides. He let out a sigh of relief, leaning his front portion back a little as he stretched his arms upward.

“This is more like it.” He said. No one could disagree with him.

“Normally I would question how this rock is keeping it this cool in here, but...” Penny closed her eyes as she pressed the back of her head against the rock. “This is just so nice..”

“After all that, yeah.” Rudy agreed, a smile stretching along his face. “I say we stay in here for a few minutes before continuing out there.” He looked over his shoulder, staring at the other exit on the other side. He bit his lip. “I’m not looking forward to it...”

Snap looked at him, motioning his hand towards him. “None of us are, Bucko. But...we haven’t much of a choice, do we?”

Rudy shook his head. “No, we don’t.”

Penny turned to Rudy. “We will make it.”

“Yeah, I know we will.” Rudy said.

Snap and Barney exchanged quick glances with each other. They both gave the other a knowing look. Both of them knew that Rudy was lying a little. So was Penny. None of them could be sure they would get out. But they were glad that they still had the hopes that they would. They needed that positive attitude.

For now, they needed to rest. Snap settled down further, curling up on the ground and shutting his eyes to rest them. His eyes had gotten a bit too much light before. It felt good to be able to close them and let his eyes recover a little.

As he did this, he started to hear something. Some kind of vibrations. He opened his eyes and raised up his head. He stared down at the ground, moving his hand a long it, pushing away the sand. He wondered what that noise could be. It wasn’t too loud, yet it was enough that he could hear it from up here. It almost sounded like...

“Snap? What’s going on?” Penny stared over at the small zoner. “What do you...”

Snap lifted up his head and looked over at them. He paused for a moment as he allowed a chilling realization wash over him. “I think someone might live here...”

“What?” Barney whipped his head towards Snap. “Are you sure?”

Snap nodded his head. “I could feel some vibrations in the ground. They’re getting louder. They’re coming back.” He looked left and right, rubbing his hands nervously. “They were coming in pretty fast...”

“That might explain why it’s so cool in here. Maybe he had something to do with it...” Penny said.

Snap stared at her and spoke through clenched teeth. “Yeah, we can do with the explaining later.” A louder vibration caused him to shiver. “We need to get going before...”

Before he was ble to finish that sentence, there was a loud honking sound not too far away. The group immediately jumped to their feet. They looked around quickly, trying to find a place to hide. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find any place before a military green-colored jeep drove into the place. The speed was so quick, they didn’t stand a chance.

The group coughed a few times as sand was kicked up into the air. They had to shield their eyes for a few moments before they could look over at the zoner in the jeep.

Sitting there in the jeep was a green and brown grasshopper-like zoner. He looked a little short, but rounded in muscle. His huge legs easily stuck out of the car, being incredibly long and surely packed with muscle. They could only imagine the kicks this guy could deliver. His mouth, filled with sharp teeth, was partially open as his eyes stared at them in shock, looking just as shocked to see them.

As they stared at each other, the radio, which had been turned on in the jeep, started to beep a warning. That familiar screech that Rudy and Penny had to endure whenever a test happened or they report something, such as a kidnapping. It struck fear in their hearts and they immediately huddled in on themselves.

Then the announcement came.

“King Zander has just issued a state-wide emergency. The dangerous creators from the above world known as Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez have escaped, along with their associates, Snap White and Barney the Encyclocentipedia. The king wants everyone to stay inside and use extreme caution. He warns they are not to be trusted and are dangerous. He will do what he can to apprehend them, but if anyone spots them, he would greatly appreciate it if they are delivered to him.”

At this, the group felt their hearts freeze solid. They could barely think, barely let the consequences of what was just said pour down over them. They immediately stared to back up, their eyes never leaving the grasshopper’s gaze.

The grasshopper stared at them for a few seconds. It appeared he was having a hard time registering what was said. Soon, he narrowed his eyes and growled. He recognized them, and as his eyes held nothing but contempt for them, they knew he did not have the best of plans for them.

“You...You will pay for what you did to my family!” The grasshopper shouted. Before Snap or his friends could say anything in response to that, the grasshopper pressed his foot down on the gas pedal. “Die!”

Screaming, the group turned and fled.


	22. Instincts

Barney could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he ran. One would think that his many legs would make it easier to run fast. No, they only complicated things. He could feel himself start to drag behind, especially as they spent longer in the burning heat.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap were ahead of him. Snap was the fastest, being out in front of them all. Rudy and Penny were close together, although Rudy appeared to be having some problems himself. The pain in his arm must be slowing him down. No, it wasn’t just that. It was dehydration. They were all exhausted, but Rudy and Penny... They had it worse.

Unlike him and Snap, Rudy and Penny did not have anything to drink recently. They had been traveling for at least an hour at the very least. He was certain it was much longer than that. This meant that they had to be even more dehydrated. That would make them an easier target than him or Snap.

Barney wished he could do something to help them. How could he do that when he couldn’t even catch up to them? And the pain in his shoulders.... It hadn’t really gotten all that much better. He had been able to ignore it before, but now it was getting much worse.

Behind him, he could hear the loud roar of the machine. That grasshopper zoner... He was getting closer. He could hear the honking of his horn and the roar of his engine. They were gradually getting louder. And the barrage of words didn’t stop.

“You monsters! Come back here! You need to face what you have done! All my family members are dead because of that disease you unleashed here! I will get you back for that!”

Barney bit his lip at this. He wasn’t sure what the insect zoner chasing them was talking about. How would Rudy, Penny, and Snap have released it all the way down here? Something about his logic...not just him, the king’s logic... It didn’t add up. The trio had never been down here before. How could they have done anything like this?

The only time they accidentally released a dangerous disease was with balloonemia. That was simply due to a mistake on Rudy’s part. He had fixed it quickly, and minimized the damage. He wasn’t sure if they saved everyone, but at least the disease didn’t kill as many zoners as it had back then. The thought of it still made him shudder. He had seen some of them pop...

He had a feeling that something was very wrong here. He was certain that King Zander was lying about something, or he could simply be mistaken. Even if this was a misunderstanding, that didn’t excuse the way he was treating them. If he had just tried to talk to them before, perhaps things could have been...

His thoughts were cut off when a large shadow casted over him. He looked up, his eyes wide in horror.

“Barney!” He heard Penny shout at him. “Get out of the way!”

Barney scrambled back as quickly as he could. He could feel his feet slipping underneath him. He soon managed to get back just in time for the jeep to jump next to him. The sand was kicked up and he head to put a hand over his face to protect it.

The grasshopper zoner had taken advantage of a slope they had gone down. He had used it to gain some air and distance, and now he was right next to Barney. However, instead of attacking him, his eyes were fully on Rudy and Penny. With them being creators, Barney deduced that most of this zoner’s fury was going to be directed at them.

The grasshopper aimed a gun at Rudy and Penny. He closed one of his eyes, gritting his teeth. Rudy and Penny watched in fear and attempted to run again. “You’re not going anymore...” The grasshopper hissed as he pulled the trigger.

There was a loud bang, a splash of smoke, and then a net shot out. It spent through the air, weights clanging together. Barney was unable to do anything as the net sailed towards Rudy and Penny. Time seemed to slow down. All he could do was reach out towards them and scream their names. Even that was in slow motion, his voice dragging on as if it were being run through an audio editor.

He was relieved when he saw Rudy and Penny jump to the side. They grunted as they collided with the ground, rolling across it. They pushed themselves up by their hands. Penny did anyway. She gave a few coughs before she bolted to Rudy, heling him to his feet. At this point, Snap had seen they were falling behind and he rushed over to help them. That was when the grasshopper aimed at him.

“Maybe if I did something to your friend here...” The grasshopper hissed.

Rudy’s eyes widened at this. He turned his head to the grasshopper zoner. “N-No... Don’t...” He staggered towards the grasshopper. “Please. Just leave him alone... He didn’t do anything to...”

The grasshopper glared at him harshly. “He’s associated with you. He’s your creation, is he not?”

Rudy stammered. “I-I... Yes he is.”

The grasshopper scowled at this. “Then he has your evil running through him. I must snuff him out.” He aimed his gun at Snap, fully preparing to shoot. “Or perhaps, we can work out a deal.”

“What do you want?” Penny asked, despite surely knowing how dumb of a question that was.

The grasshopper gave a bitter smile. “Well, for starters, you could...”

Barney made his move. He had been sneaking around behind the grasshopper while he was distracted with the trio. He had been careful not to make any noise or draw attention. And it was working. Soon he was in position behind him, he began to rear up, pulling some of his legs off the ground. In that moment, his subconscious mind remembered that he was a centipede, and centipedes were hunters. He pulled his head back, spreading out his hands, and then, his pupils shrinking, he struck.

The grasshopper barely had time for a scream when Barney collided with him. He wrapped his limbs around him securely, keeping him in a tight embrace. He could see a few flashes of the trio’s shocked faces, but his mind was fully on the centipede.

At first, all Barney wanted to do was hold him down long enough for Rudy to use the remaining magic chalk to restrain him somehow. He called out to Rudy to do something. But Rudy couldn’t move. He just stood there, staring at him in shock. Barney felt burning frustration in his mind. Why wasn’t the boy doing anything?

...Why did he feel this frustrated? Not like he hadn’t been before, but this seemed...different. The longer he held onto the squirming grasshopper, preventing him from reaching his gun, the more this frustration increased. And the more he felt temptation start to come over him.

Barney had never felt anything like this before. It was...different. It was scary. Yet it also felt so good. When he started to accept this new feeling, the more calm he started to get. He stared down at the grasshopper he held. He felt as if he was going into a trance. There was something so....tempting...

Without warning, he big down on the grasshopper’s shoulder.

sss

“Ahhhhhh!”

Rudy could feel his blood run cold when he heard the scream. What horrified him more was the fact that it wasn’t Barney who had screamed. IT was the grasshopper.

“Oy caloy! What’s going on?!” Snap placed his hands against his face. “What is Barney doing?!”

“I-I don’t know..” Rudy whispered, his wide, green eyes unable to leave the horrific sight before him.

He hadn’t even seen Barney behind the grasshopper at first. He was too busy staring at the gun and trying to find a way to make the grasshopper leave his friends alone. His mind had been swirling with rapid thoughts as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. Penny had been busy doing this as well, and Snap was distracted with trying to help them. None of them noticed the orange and pink centipede behind the grasshopper. Not until it was too late.

They had been shocked, but also a little relieved at first. Barney was doing a pretty good job with holding the grasshopper down. All those legs were coming in handy in this moment. It gave him more leverage than the grasshopper, and he was able to subdue four of his limbs, his longer legs kicking out almost helplessly behind him.

Then things started to get scary. Barney was holding a little too tightly. More so than what was necessary. He started to wrap himself around the grasshopper, like a snake would with its prey. Then he started to look at the grasshopper in a weird way. A look that Rudy and his friends had never seen in him before, but he had seen it in that gigantic preying mantis. And then Barney bit the grasshopper.

Rudy’s eyes couldn’t tear away from the sight of blood moving down the grasshopper’s body as Barney sank his teeth into his exoskeleton easily. He didn’t tear away the chunk of flesh, but that didn’t make the scene any less horrific or brutal.

“Barney!” Rudy screamed when he couldn’t take it any longer. “Stop! Release him! You’re hurting him!” His eyes bulged when he saw Barney press his claws against the grasshopper’s chest, starting to slice it open. “Barney!”

He could feel a nudge next to him He turned his head, staring into the eyes of Penny. They held horror and dread, but also some recognition. Rudy panted a few times, realizing that Penny must have an idea of what is going on.

“Penny..? What’s going on with Barney?”

Penny looked over at Barney sadly. She flinched as she watched him hold onto the squirming, screaming grasshopper. “He’s in predatory mode.”

Rudy and Snap looked at each other in confusion.

“Predatory mode?” Snap asked. He held up his hand. “What does that mean?”

“Well, he is a centipede. An encyclocentipedia. But still a centipede. Centipedes are carnivores.” Penny looked at Rudy and Snap, making sure that they were listening to every word she said. With everything she said, the duo’s dread only inreased. “Seeing that grasshopper squirm against him must have triggered his more animalistic instincts. If we don’t do something to stop him, he’s going to eat that grasshopper.”

Rudy gasped at this, seeing Snap cringe beside him. They stared at each other in horror. They both had a feeling that this was going to be bad news. None of them could have imagined it was going to be anything like this.

The idea of Barney acting on predatory instinct was a horrifying one, especially for someone that seemed so refined and civil. Barney had even lived in a home with furniture and drank tea. The idea of someone like that being this... It was just too diffcult for them to swallow.

Rudy stared over at Barney, biting his lip. He started to feel his legs regain some control, and he took a step forward. Another scream from the grasshopper zoner made him shake his head. “Penny, what should I draw?”

Snap looked at him nervously. “Whatever you do draw, make sure it counts. We only have one shot at this.”

Rudy knew that all too well. There was still some time left to save the grasshopper. He needed to stop Barney before he tore off more flesh. At the moment, the grasshopper was not able to get away and even his legs were now restrained in the twisted body.

Penny tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. “It’s not going to be easy. So long as he is in that wild state, he is going to be difficult to catch. Always twisting and turning...” She looked at Rudy and Snap. “We’re going to have to trap him.”

“In what? A cage?”

Penny nodded. “But to make it work, we’re going to need some bait.” She folded her arms. “That would mean you’d have to draw something...”

Rudy shook his head. “I’m not drawing a live zoner for...!”

“I didn’t say you had to.” Penny cut him off, raising a finger. “Just something that moves around and looks alive.” She looked at where his pocket was. “Do you have enough in there for that?”

Rudy fished out the magic chalk from his pocket. He held it up, staring at it as it lay in the palm of his hand. He saw just how tiny it was. It was only a tad larger than the first piece that he had before. He bit his lip. Drawing something with this was going to be tricky, especially a cage and some bait inside of it.

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know if there’s enough...” He looked over at Barney. “He’s so long... I would need to make a long cage for him. And with this...” He looked back at the chalk. “I could make some sort of cage, but I won’t have enough for anything useful after that.”

Penny thought about this. “Well... Maybe Snap could be the bait.”

“What?!” Snap cried, shooting his arms up at his sides. “Are you referring to moi?!”

Penny looked at him with a sad smile. “Sorry, Snap. But there’s not much of a choice here. We need to...”

“Nah uh! No way!” Snap turned his head away, closing his eyes and waving his hand dismissively. “I am not going to be part of this...”

“But Snap...! What about Barney?” Penny cried out to him. “He’s out of control! We need to stop him!”

Snap glared at her. “Then why don’t you come up with a plan that doesn’t involve any of us risking our necks? In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in no position to get more injured. What if that Kairos guy is somewhere nearby?” Snap motioned his hand out, his glare on Penny. “What if this plan of yours causes one of us to...”

“Tranquilizer dart.” Rudy said, his eyes widening. His friends immediately stopped shouting at each other and looked over at him, blinking a few times.

Penny was the first one to respond. “A tranquilizer dart...?” She looked away, staring at the ground and rubbing her chin again. “Yes...that might work. But you would need to draw an extra strong needle to pierce his body. Otherwise...”

“Yeah, I know.” Rudy held up his hand.

“Well? Get a move on, Bucko!” Snap waved his hands in desperation. “There isn’t much time! I don’t know how long that grasshopper will last!”

Rudy looked over his shoulder and stared at where the grasshopper was. He gulped when he saw that Barney managed to take two large bites out of him and there were huge gashes in his chest and side. The kicks of the insectoid zoner were getting weaker and weaker by the second. He could see the wide eyes, silently pleading for help.

Rudy did not waste anymore time. He quickly began to sketch the gun in the air. He made sure just to add the details necessary but did not go overboard. As soon as the tranquilizer gun came into view, he grabbed onto it and he aimed it towards Barney.

The dart sailed through the air and it hit its target. Barney flinched and stiffened at this. He looked down at the dart stuck in him. He pulled it out and threw it aside. He turned his eyes towards Rudy and with a glint in his eyes, Rudy knew he had put two and two together. A few tense seconds passed before Barney reacted.

He slithered off of the grasshopper, releasing him. The grasshopper’s body plopped to the ground. The group watched in horrified sympathy as the grasshopper’s body started to spasm from the various bloody wounds he had been given.

Rudy took a few steps back when he saw that Barney was now headed towards him. He couldn’t even recognize the centipede zoner anymore. His pupils were covering almost his entire eye, making them look like black voids. It was the look a cat might give when concentrating on its prey.

Rudy scrambled to defend himself, but he couldn’t stop Barney in time. In seconds, the centipede’s body slammed against him, knocking him into the ground.

“Rudy!”

The boy struggled, but he didn’t get too far when he felt a sharp pain in his side. His eyes widened and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Aaaarrrgghhhh!”

sss

Snap stood and watched in horror at the scene before him. He couldn’t believe what was happening. He never thought he would see something like this.

Barney was biting Rudy in his side. He could see the blood start to be spilled. It wasn’t too much, but enough to tell him and Penny that Barney’s teeth had penetrated skin. Thankfully, Barney didn’t bite long as he reacted in pain due to Rudy’s blood’s Real World properties. But that didn’t mean Rudy was out of the woods yet.

“Rudy!” Snap cried out, his body shaking as he tried to think of what to do. He looked over at Penny for help. “What do we do?!”

It took Penny only a few seconds to come up with a decision. She looked down at where the tranquilizer gun still lay. She immediately bolted towards it, moving as quickly as she could. It didn’t take her too long to reach it. She grabbed it and she tossed it towards Snap.

The zoner fumbled with it as he tried to catch it. It dropped down to the ground despite his best efforts. Then he picked it up and held it in his hands. He looked at it and then looked over at Penny.

“Use that! I’ll try to keep Barney still!”

“But...”

“Just do it! I’ll be fine!”

Snap wasn’t sure. He hadn’t shot something like this before. He didn’t regard himself as having the best aim. What if he missed? What if he ended up hitting Penny in a sensitive spot, like her eye..?

Nonetheless, he knew that he needed to do this. A scream from Rudy prompted him to lift the tranquilizer gun, preparing it for a shot. He leveled it in front of his head as he took aim. He looked through the scope attached to the top, trying to line the bars at Barney’s neck.

While he was busy steadying the gun, Penny had rushed over and she jumped on Barney’s back. Snap couldn’t help but flinch when he saw her touch against his back injuries. The centipede let out a hissing screech and let go of Rudy. His back parts swatted the boy away, then they began to wrap around Penny.

“B-Barney...i-it’s me...” Penny grabbed onto Barney’s face and started to push back. “Please...”

But Barney wasn’t listening. He just growled and hissed at her as he tried to bite her.

Penny turned her head and stared at Snap. “Shoot! Now!”

Snap’s hands and arms started to trumble as he started to pull the trigger. He hesitated for a second as Barney started to squirm around, holding Penny against him. It was almost as if Barney knew what was going to happen and was purposely trying to complicate things. Snap shook his head and didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

He watched as the dart was launched from the gun. It moved swiftly across the air, cutting past Rudy and landed against Barney’s neck. A bullseye. Snap would have celebrated if the situation wasn’t so dire.

With the dart in his neck, Barney released Penny. He squirmed back, his legs kicking wildly. He grabbed onto the dart and pulled it out. He threw it down and looked back at them. He slowly began to advance. Snap readied the tranquilizer gun in case he decided to attack again.

This time, however, Barney froze. His eyes widened as the drug started to take effect. He swayed from side to side, and his legs couldn’t hold him up anymore. They slid down no matter how many times he kicked them to get up. He soon collapsed on the ground. Barney let out a few panicked cries as he tried not to fall into unconsciousness. His body was fighting so hard, not wanting him to be in such a vulnerable position.

But soon, the drug won over. Barney’s thrashes stopped, and soon he laid on the ground, still and quiet. His eyes remained open, but the life seemed partially faded, an indication that he was not presently with them. Asleep with his eyes open, and yet still not sleeping.

The trio stared at him, panting heavily from what had happened. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with terror and shock. It was still hard for them all to fully digest what had happened just now. They thought that maybe they were just hallucinating but..

No, they weren’t. The blood all around them. Coating the ground. Clinging to the centipede and themselves. It was real. Barney had lost it, and he had tried to attack them.

Snap let the gun slip out of his hand as he dropped down to the ground. His legs were so wobbly, he couldn’t even think to stand up anymore. He looked towards the ground, unable to blink. He panted a few times as he struggled to find the words to say. Nothing would come out. All he could do was sit there as his mind swirled rapidly with thoughts.

After a few minutes, their heart rates began to go back to normal, and their thoughts started to settle down. With the initial shock now finally over, they could begin to think about the next step that they needed to take.

Snap slowly approached Barney’s prone form. His friends joined in. They couldn’t tear their eyes away from him. They bit their lips as they looked at each other. The same question rushed through their heads.

What were they going to do about Barney? How were they going to continue forth with him like this? Should they just stay and wait for him to wake up and hope that he would be back to normal? Or should they move him before the grasshopper guy woke up and...

Snap’s eyes bulged at this. The grasshopper... He whipped his head over to where the grasshopper laid. He took in a few nervous pants when he saw that he wasn’t moving. “I-Is he...?”

Penny walked over to the grasshopper zoner. She knelt down beside him. She reached over and placed a few fingers against his neck. She waited a few seconds. She looked back at her friends and shook her head.

Rudy and Snap’s faces paled at this as they looked at each other.

sss

Rudy couldn’t believe it. He wanted to believe that the grasshopper was still alive somehow. That Penny had made some sort of mistake. But the evidence was right there before them. No matter how much his pounding mind wanted to deny, there was no way he could ignore this for long.

Barney had killed a zoner.

Rudy’s mind flashed back to when Penny accidentally killed the manticore. And then Snap accidentally killed the snake.

But this was different. This was a purposeful act. Barney had deliberately killed him. No... his animal side did. His sentient side seemed to have been knocked out for the time being. Rudy couldn’t bring himself to be angry at the centipede.

He was still worried, however. How could he not be? This case was worse than the manticore and the snake. Although he was sad that they perished, they were still just animals to the zoners around here. There would be anger, but not quite as much as this case. Barney had killed a sentient zoner. If word of this got out...

Rudy shook his head. He tried to fight back the emotions swelling up inside of him. He couldn’t allow them to drag him down. He had to keep focusing on moving on ahead. He and his friends could worry about their devasted reactions after they got out of here. Right now, they all had to stay in survival mode and try to get out.

He looked over at his friends, narrowing his eyes slightly. “We need to get moving.”

“Not that I am disagreeing with you. I would love to get out of this heat.” Snap wiped his brow. “But what about him?” He motioned down towards the centipede.

“And what of you, Rudy?” Penny looked at his injury. “You’re hurt. Again.”

Rudy flinched when he felt the pain growing in his side. He looked down, seeing the tooth marks from where Barney had bit him. He clenched his teeth as he placed his hand against it. He could feel the warmth of his blood staining it. He pulled back. He was relieved that there wasn’t too much bleeding, but this injury was going to cause problems.

There wasn’t much he could do, either. He had no more magic chalk at this point. So there was no drawing that could be done. He could tear off part of his clothing, though without scissors, such a task would be difficult. And after all that had happened to them, using his own cloth was going to be problematic. He didn’t want to risk getting an infection.

He had no choice but to conclude that there was nothing he could do for now. He would have to move on without any sort of bandage until they find another piece of magic chalk. He was still nervous on how that magic chalk kept appearing, but in this situation, he could hardly complain.

Then there was the situation with Barney. How were they going to move him? He’s not exactly a small zoner like Snap. The drug was going to remain in effect for a while. This meant that they had only two choices.

Either they drag Barney towards the next biome, or they sit here and wait until he woke up.

He narrowed his eyes. There was no way they could stay here. They had to keep moving. For all they knew, the king and his general may have sent soldiers this way. Maybe the grasshopper had sent out a signal and the king now knows of their location. If that’s the case, time to get a move on.

“Penny, Snap.” Rudy said as he stared at them. He made a gesture towards Barney. “Grab his arms and drag him with.”

Snap looked over at the still form of the grasshopper. “And him?”

Rudy closed his eyes and looked away. “Leave him. There’s nothing we can do for him.” As much as it pained him to leave the grasshopper zoner there, there wasn’t anything they could do. He couldn’t drag him in this state, and he would find that a bit disrespectful. Plus, it would slow them down, and now isn’t the time for being slowed down.

Although reluctant, Rudy’s friends eventually agreed to this, agreeing that there really wasn’t too much else they could do. They casted one last sad look at the grasshopper zoner, whispering their apologies for such a thing happening, and then they grabbed onto Barney’s arms. Carefully, they beagn to move him.

Rudy watched them and waited until they got close enough. He then turned his head and looked out at where they were headed. The chase had brought them closer. He could see the mountain sector now. He took in a deep breath and then, nodding to his friends, they began to head over that way.

sss

As the group walked, they didn’t notice the bird zoner flying overhead. They didn’t see Kairos’s eyes gleaming from out of their line of sight. They didn’t see his bronze beak curving into a sadistic smile.

And they certainly weren’t aware of one particular feature of Kairos. It wasn’t just Teumessian and Laelaps whose eyes could shoot what they see over to the king. Kairos’s eyes were glowing red, getting brighter the close someone would look at them. And deep inside, one might catch the reflection of the king as he leaned back, arms folded, smirking.

King Zander couldn’t help but feel some level of impressivemente when it came to those four. They had proven to be better at surviving without magic chalk than he ever could have dreamed of. Despite his hatred for what they did, especially the humans, he had to congratulate them on a job well done.

The footage that he had gathered from this could make for great entertainment. His people would love it. He knew they had gotten quite nervous lately due to his announcement of their escape. But this might help them channel all that negative energy and let it be driven out. They had been excited before when they watched them fight in the arena. Perhaps seeing them try to survive on their own would make for a lovely alternative.

He soon narrowed his eyes. He had to remember the reason for all of this. He couldn’t lose sight of it. He was doing something far bigger than just making them his entertainment. That hadn’t even been his initial idea; his people wanted more, so he gave them more.

He had to keep it a secret, however. Some may not understand why he was doing this, and even feel betrayed. He didn’t want that. The only one in the kingdom he could trust with this knowledge was Kairos, and even he wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good idea or not.

But King Zander was going to stick with it. It was far too late to back down anyway. He had already come this far, and he was going to see this through.

He watched as the group continued to move on. He narrowed his eyes softly. There was another concern he had to make note of. Despite being clearly unskilled in the area, they had managed to kill three zoners while they were here. One was even sentient and speaking. He wasn’t too broken up. He had more important things to worry about than to stay mad at something as insignificant as that.

All that mattered was the entirety of his kingdom. The community as a hole. A few dots pecked off here or there didn’t really make much of a difference. Just everything in its entirety.

He looked down at a piece of magic chalk he still had. He clutched it tightly, watching as it sparkled, indicating its magic. He curled his lip slightly, showing part of his teeth. Everything was falling into place, but if he wasn’t careful... He shut his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. He had to make sure he did whatever he could to prevent this from being a failure.

He had no choice.


	23. Getting The Drop

Barney moved slowly behind the trio. He couldn't bring himself to move any faster, even when they called out to him to hurry up. He was too shaken by what he had done earlier. He looked down at his hands and shuddered. He never felt so filthy before in his life.

How could he have done that? He had taken a life. He had killed..no he murdered that grasshopper zoner earlier. All he wanted to do was hold onto him, and now his blood stained his hands. He could still see the crusted red stuff stuck to his finger tips. He closed his eyes and allowed a few tears to form.

He knew when word of this got out, things won't reflect too well on him or the others. They may use this as an excuse to say how all top siders are dangerous. The king might use this as a reasoning to send troops up there, if he did end up going that far. And the worst part? He didn't think he could do much to defend himself. He felt so disgusting right now. He couldn't even trust himself anymore.

Oh what had he done...?

It wasn't just that zoner he had harmed, either. He could barely look at Rudy. He had hurt him to. He bit him. He could see the blood on the boy's side. A testament to his actions.

He could feel his blood run cold at the sight. It was bad enough that he had killed another zoner, but he had also harmed the Great Creator. One of the only obstacles that prevented ChalkZone from being exploited. The person who had stopped balloonemia and found a cure for it. Why did he do it? Why..?

He tried to hold back his tears. He couldn't stop them completely. He could feel streams moving down his face. He could feel the guilt twist up inside of him. It gave him a foul taste in his mouth. He was so tempted to punch himself in the face. He couldn't believe that he had allowed himself to get taken over like that. Why did he have to act like such a...such a wild animal? That's not who he was.

The others had forgiven him. They had told him they didn't believe he did it on purpose. Penny even theorized that his lack of interacting with other zoners might have worsened his predatory instincts somehow, not out of any innate ill will towards others.

But their words didn't make him feel much better. He still felt like a horrible monster. He felt he should be locked up somewhere, away from everyone else so he couldn't hurt them anymore. He couldn't believe the others still trusted him after what he did. They should have just tied him up or something. He didn't deserve their kindness.

He tried his best to push past these feelings. It was difficult. Despite that, he was aware that him moping around wasn't going to solve anything. He had to try to keep his chin up and keep moving. Right now, the others did still need him and he won't be of much help if he let himself drown in his own woes.

He slowly narrowed his eyes slightly as he felt himself regain some control. The bitter sorrow and self hatred he was feeling were forcibly pushed back as he did his best to clear his mind. As he did this, he noticed that he was starting to move a little faster. It didn't take him too long to catch up with the others.

"Now that's more like it." Snap said to him with a smile. "Are you feelin' any better?"

Barney couldn't lie. "No." He shook his head. "I'm still..."

"I understand. Don't kick yourself too much, though." Snap looked at him sympathetically. "You did not mean to kill that guy. We don't blame you for it."

"Yeah. You're not a murderer, Barney." Penny looked back at Barney and smiled. "We won't thnk any differently of you."

Barney smiled back. Despite some reservations against himself and some confusion towards what he percieved as easy forgiveness, he was still glad that they were being understanding. They didn't do anything to make him feel worse. They knew he was suffering enough mentally from the realization of his actions.

He soon frowned and looked around at their surroundings. He bit his lip. "I wonder how long this biome goes for."

"I don't know. I think a little while." Penny shrugged her shoulders. "So far, we hadn't run into any resistance. If this keeps up, then we'll get to the next biome and..."

"Or if there is another biome." Rudy bit his lip. "We might be heading towards a wall. I see a curve up ahead." He pointed.

Indeed, they could see a wall up ahead, stretching down and attaching to the ground. This made them all look at each other. Were they going to have to go all the way back and try again? After what they already went through, none of them were interested in doing something like that. They were exhausted enough.

Besides, maybe there was something ahead that could help them. For all they knew, this might be the way out. They could have been going the right way the whole time. The only way to find out for certain was just to keep moving. And that's exactly what they did.

The land they were in was pretty barren. No trees. Just a few sparse bushes and some vines. Most areas on here were covered in rocks and dirt. The landscape had mountains raise up out of the ground, forming sharp tips at the top and then sloping downward. Several paths zigzagged along the ground, which made traveling a little easier for them. But all the up and down was getting to them, and their legs ached.

They did not stop, though. They had to keep moving. Especially in land like this. The rocks and boulders all around looked like they could fall at any time. They silently hoped that they wouldn't run into any trouble this time. Yet, knowing their luck, this was nothing more than wishful thinking.

They were presently walking between two mountains. They appeared to be some of the tallest here. They would have climbed up them to get an advantage point, but this task was impossible. There was no slope on either mountain. It was just smooth all the way down. The presence of some jagged cave-like spikes at the bottom did little to make them feel secure about climbing these mountains.

But, as the path winded in one direction, they could see the beginnings of another mountain. This one looked a little taller, and they could see a winding path going around it like a snake. Perhaps this mountain would have a place for them to look?

They decided wordlessly to head in that direction. The mountain didn't look too far. They would get there in no time right?

Well that no time sure extended really fast. What had looked to be just a few minutes away was really a lot further than that. The mountain seemed to taunt them with every step they take. It almost seemed like it was getting smaller. It was just their imagination, but it still messed with their heads. They could almost see the distant mountain develop a face and sticking its tongue out at them.

Soon they had left the space between the mountains. Ahead of them, they could see that they were standing on a ridge with a drop down below. Lots more cave-like jagged rocks here. Stalagmites. And some stalactites grew overhead as well. Not too many, but still enough to indicate that this area wasn't all that cleaned out when the king decided to expand. Perhaps this spot just wasn't a bit enough attraction to consider moving to. Considering the precarious-looking mountains, it wasn't like they could blame the king.

But how were they going to get across? There didn't seem to be any clear path from here to the mountain. Did they need to go through the spikes? That didn't seem like a smart direction to go. There was so little room between the stalagmites.

They looked all around, and for a while, none of them could see anything that they could use to get out. No indication of safe passage. No alternative routes. Nothing.

It was at this moment that Barney wished he had his wings. He flinched at the memory of what happened to them. He could still feel the pain spreading through his body, centering around where his wings had been. It wasn't as big of a blow as it could have been since he was created without wings. But it was still quite a harsh blow to him. He felt...vulnerable without the wings.

Sadly, Rudy used the last of his chalk creating a tranquilizer dart to calm him down. And there was little reason to think that they would get another piece soon.

Their only option now was to find a path to get to the mountain. But where could they...?

Suddenly there was a loud yelp. Barney whipped his head to the side to see that Snap had suddenly disappeared. He widened his eyes in confusion.

"Snap..? Where did you go?"

Rudy and Penny had stopped as well. They turned their heads and they gasped when they saw Snap was gone. They looked at Barney, who could only shrug in confusion. The three began to look left and right, calling out Snap's name.

They started to hear some kind of muffled sound. It sounded like Snap. But it was so distant and garbled. They weren't even sure if it was him or not. They kept walking around, continuing to encourage Snap, or whoever it was, to speak so they could follow the voice.

But strangely, it all led to the same spot. They blinked in confusion. What was going on? There was nothing here. Sure, there was a small raised stalagmite. A little thick for one. And a circular pattern. But there wasn't much else here. Was Snap communicating through the rock? Possibly. That could explain the garbledness of his voice.

No, something else was going on around here.

Barney stared closely at the circular pattern. There was something really familiar about it. He was certain he had something about this in his internal database. He took a few steps closer and reached down towards it. His hand immediately started to slip in, and the 'rock' started to ripple. He yanked his hand out.

"Just as I thought." Barney said as Rudy and Penny looked at him. "A dipping pool."

Rudy raised an eyebrow. "A dipping pool?"

"Like...for diving?" Penny asked, raising her hands up. "That's the only kind of dipping pool I know of."

Barney felt his heart clench. He put his hand against the side of his face, lightly rubbing it. This wasn't good. No, this was awful. He turned his head to Rudy and Penny, watching as they gave him confused expressions. It was clear they had no idea what they were up against. He swallowed and struggled to find the words to say. Soon he managed to spit out a couple short though meaningful words.

"He needs help!"

"Wh-What?" Rudy asked. He moved his head down and stared at where Snap dropped down. He took a cautious step forward, reaching his right hand towards it. He couldn't get too far standing up. "Is he..?"

"Barney, what's going on?" Penny demanded, staring at him with those wide, fear-filled eyes.

Barney would love to tell them. But there was no time for that. They had to get moving before it was too late. There was only one thing they could do at this point. He didn't want to do this, but it was either this, or Snap died a gruesome death.

He took a few steps closer to the dipping pool. He stopped when his front-most feet were right on the edge. He could see the slight rippling underneath his feet. He bit his lip. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. He lifted up his head and looked over at Rudy and Penny. He motioned for them to follow him. He could see them exchange nervous looks. He stared at them sympathetically and then gave them a serious frown, silently telling them that they needed to come with him.

He then looked down at the pool. He could feel his heart pounding. He knew exactly what was waiting for them on the other side. Despite that, knowing that Snap was down there, he worked up the courage to jump.

sss

"Barney!" Penny cried as she reached a hand forward. She tried to grab onto the centipede, but it was too late. He had already dropped down.

She and Rudy stood in silence for several moments. They couldn't move, not even to look at each other. All they could do was stare at the dipping pool where both Barney and Snap had disappeared down. This turn of events had been so sudden, so unexpected. Their minds couldn't even fully comprehend it.

Just a short time ago, both Snap and Barney had been up here with them. They were all walking along the path to find a way to get to the tallest mountain up ahead. Then Snap screamed and he disappeared. Now Barney was gone, too.

And it was all because of this dipping pool. From how Barney reacted to it, it wasn't anything that they wanted to spend a lot of time in. He had looked so worried.. Penny felt her heart twist. Just what was at the bottom of this thing? Were Barney and Snap okay? What was happening to them? What should she and Rudy do?

She managed to look over at her friend, her eyes bulging in worry. Rudy was still staring at the dipping pool. His eyes had widened up further than she ever saw them. His mouth was partially open. She could see a bit of shivering as emotion swept through him. She couldn't tell exactly what emotion it was, but she guessed that shock was one of them. He looked poised to just jump in.

Penny hesitated. Should they jump? What if something happened to them, too? What if they got hot? How would they help anyone in that state? But they couldn't just move on either. They couldn't leave Barney and Snap to this horrible fate, whatever fate that might be. They...They had to do something...anything...

She turned her head and saw that Rudy was already getting closer to the edge. His foot was now partially in the hole. He turned to look at her. He didn't utter a word. He simply gave her a look that she knew all too well. It was the same look he would give her when he was about to do something really risky when no other options were available. It was the same look he gave her when he...

..when he had her lock him up in the temple...

Penny choked back a small cry at that horrible memory. Even now, it haunted her. Even though everything turned out fine, the fact that she nearly lost her friend still ripped her up inside. She clutched her hands to her chest and stared at him.

Rudy gave her an understanding look. His eyes raised up a little, conveying a message of sadness to her. He then looked at the dipping pool. He took in a deep breath. Then he jumped into it. Penny watched helplessly as he disappeared.

Now she stood here all alone. She looked left and right, hearing absolutely nothing. Not even distant calls of animals or rocks rolling. Just..nothing. Just silence and emptiness.

She stared at the dipping pool intently. She gulped, then narrowed her eyes. She couldn't allow this stupid pool slow her down. Her friends were down there. They might need her help. She couldn't chicken out now. She couldn't fall into the helpless mindset. That's not who she was. She never did that before and she wasn't about to start now.

She sucked in a deep breath mentally preparing herself. Then she formed fists with her hands and moved her arms back and forth, gathering up energy. Then she thrust herself forward and launched herself into the air. Down the dipping pool she went.

When she fell in, she felt some kind of weird sensation. It felt cool and wet and yet at the same time, not. It felt like she had gone through something solid, even though it was clearly liquid. Her brain was getting mixed signals, and it temporarily gave her a headache.

That strange sensation wasn't the oddest thing about this place. Looking all around it was as if they entered a void. There was emerald green and black all around, cloud shapes and stars. There didn't appear to be any solid ground anywhere. Nothing below or to the side. Just this swirling green and black vortex that made it look like they had fallen into space itself. And the way everything was twisting and turning, as if this was taking place from the point of view of a shaky camera, Penny could feel her stomach churning.

Down further, she could see the falling forms of Rudy and Barney. Their limbs were stretched out as if they were merely diving into a pool. Speaking of which, it was kind of starting to feel like that now. Penny thought she hit something solild and wet. She did not see anything wet on her, but when she moved her arms through the air, that's what it felt like. Each stroke seemed to take more and more effort.

Penny shivered when she heard what sounded like deep laughter. She moved her side to the side and in a second, something shot up. She didn't get a good enough look to tell what it was. Then another appeared and she moved to the other side.

"Remain calm!"

Penny looked down and saw that Barney had taken notice of her. He must have heard her small cry when she tried to dodge the...whatever they were before.

"Just keep yourself from panicking and everything will be all right!" Barney called out to her.

Penny nodded her head shakingly. But on the inside, she was still panicking. She swallowed hard and tried to relax. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of happier thoughts. She had to get her heart rate to slow down, or... Wait, what would happen?

At that moment, something else came after her. This one was larger, black in color, and all jagged and twisted. Penny stared at it in fear, putting her hands over her mouth. In a second, the thing took shape, and when it did, Penny couldn't stifle the gasp of shock.

The manticore she had killed. It looked just like it now. Right down to the minor details. Only solid black in color. Only the eyes, which glowed a bright yellow, were any different. The creator opened up its mouth and let out a roar at her. Penny scrambled to get back, and could feel the rush of air as the shadow beast attempted to strike her.

"Don't move! It's not real!" Barney put his hands to his mouth so she could hear. "Just close your eyes and relax!"

"Barney, what's going on?!" Rudy's cry could be heard.

Barney's answer came immediately. "This is what a dipping pool is! It gives you apparitions of things you feel guilty about. It's trying to mentally weaken you. If you allow the apparitions to get to you, then it will kill you from shere fright!"

Penny shut her eyes tightly and took in a few quick breaths. She tried her best to ignore the growling around her. "S-So.. So we just have to pretend nothing is there and stay calm?"

"At least until we get down at the bottom."

Rudy turned Barney. "What's at the bottom?"

Barney narrowed his eyes. "The brain. It's a vine-like structure. Once victims have been scared to death, it devours them. For those who somehow get past that, it will simply tear them apart and eat them alive."

At this, Penny could feel her stomach nearly rip up from the inside. She struggled to control the nausea feeling she got, and it took all her might not to throw up from the shere horror of what she and Rudy had learned. Snap had been falling in here for quite a while now. Does that mean he...?

She shook her head. No, he was fine. He just had to be. They just needed to reach him. They would soon get to him if they keep falling at this rate. Snap would be fine. He was a smart little zoner. He'd be able to dodge the creature's attack.

Despite this confidence in her friend, Penny still couldn't help but worry. Snap was still just one person and he was down there all alone. How long would he be able to dodge the attacks before she and the others get to him? She hoped and prayed that Snap would be able to hold on for just a little longer.

Then finally, after what felt like many hours of falling, of seeing nothing but twirling imagery, of trying to pretend not to see the shadow manticore get to her, it appeared they were reaching the bottom. The twirling had begun to stop and settle down. The shadow beast that was harrassing her had dissipated into the air, vanishing completely. Then they hit against the flattened, still 'ground', if it could be called that.

Seconds later, they began to sink into it. It felt like the entrance, except a little more... She wasn't even sure she could describe it in words. Perhaps something like melted metal, and sharp. Somehow. Penny winced as they moved through and soon dropped into a new space on the other side.

She collided with cold, wet ground. She pushed herself up and shook her head. She looked at her hands, noticing the slickness of it. She put her nose close and took a sniff. Just water. She wiped it off and pushed herself up to her feet. She took a moment to look around.

They were in some kind of deep cave system. This must be a few miles underneath Chalklantis. She wondered if the Chalklantians used this for anything. Maybe some Chalklantians still lived down here. In that case, they would need to tread carefully.

They were presently in a large chamber. There were multiple tunnel systems all around them. Some appeared to go up while others dipped down. There was a larger tunnel in the middle. No, not a tunnel, but an actual opening that led into another room. It wasn't a rounded opening, either, but more jagged, with a ridge of rock snaking down almost like it had been liquid at one time.

Large cave-like formations were all around them. Not just the usual stalagmites and stalactites, which there were a few of here, jetting out of the ground as if eager to come out and play. But there were also formations that she hadn't seen in most other caves in ChalkZone, likely due to children having a lack of knowledge of such formations. Columns and flowstone also decorated this place. The flowstone was mostly on the walls, and like their namesake, they appeared to 'flow down' along the side. They thinned at the bottom, looking almost like thin pancakes stacked one on top of the other. The columns themselves were were spread in a few parts of the room. They weren't as numerous as the stalactites or stalagmites, but what was there looked rather impressive. They were thick and smooth, almost as if they had been carved, and they were stained with a few colors, as if someone had been painting on them. The tops spread out like a fan, making it look almost like a rock-based mushroom.

Penny would have stared a little longer at the beauty of this place, but she had more important things to do. She took a few steps forward, turning her head from one side to the other as she looked for any sign of Snap.

Behind her, she could hear Barney and Rudy joining her. She wasn't sure where they were or when they arrived. Those questions didn't matter to her. She just kept walking. The three of them continued their search for Snap.

Penny wondered where Snap could have gone. He couldn't have gone that far, right? He hadn't been down there that much longer than them. But then again, with all these tunnels, he could have gone anywhere. She bit her lip. How were they going to locate their friend at this point? They couldn't even see any indication of where he had gone. Not even footprints. The ground was too hard to form those.

They didn't give up. They stayed close together and walked through the large chamber. The first place they thought to go was through the opening. Perhaps Snap went in here. It seemed like the first place he would go if he was exploring this area.

It took them a few more moments of walking, but soon they walked through the opening. They were surprised at how small it really was. It looked bigger somehow from where they were. But now that they were here, they had to squeeze through. Penny winced when she felt her sides get a little scraped from the jagged rocks. Rudy and Barney came in after her.

The next area they entered was larger, and completely lacking in any rocky structure they had seen before, outside of the rocky walls. But that didn't mean that this room was empty. No, there was something here all right. Something that made them pause and stare in shock.

There was a tall vine-like thing, just like what Barney mentioned would be here. It was huge, stretching upwards, its tendrils moving about on each side. It had an oval shaped 'head' that was split down the middle. Its 'mouth' was open up, showing off what appeared to be tooth-like impressions. There were no visible eyes on the creature, and yet somehow, it appeared to see them. It turned its head to them and struck the ground multiple times with its tendrils.

"Be careful." Barney whispered softly, his wide eyes glued to the thing. "It can detect vibrations and air changes. If you move too quickly, it will know that you are here."

Rudy clenched his teeth. "I think it already knows..."

Penny was about to say that talking counted as air changes, since the words caused vibrations in the air. She didn't want to contribute to the problem and thus kept her mouth zipped up.

She focused her eyes on the creature. It was so huge and massive... If lives weren't in danger, she would have loved to study this thing a little more, understand its habits better. It was unlike anything she's seen before. The closest thing she could think of to describe it was a venus fly trap. Even that didn't come close to what this was.

She soon realized that this thing didn't have just one head structure. There appeared to be several, but most of them were a lot smaller than the first head they saw. The main head was huge, looking like it was easily large enough to swallow at least two Skrawls in a single gulp. The other hads were still quite large and could eat them in a single bite.

Her eyes widened in horror when she saw that one of the heads seemed occupied. She could see what appeared to be a bulge in this one, and it was the only head that was closed. The others were split open, exposing their leaf-like structured mouths with no visible tube going down its 'throat'. It didn't take Penny much time to realize what this bulge might be.

"It's Snap!"

Rudy whipped his head towards Penny. "S-Snap...? Are you sure..?"

Penny nodded her head slowly. "Y-Yeah... It's him. He's trapped inside..." Penny immediately turned her head towards Barney. "What do we do?"

Barney took a small step back. "Well I.." He closed his eyes, put his fingertips together, and started to search. "Let's see here..."

"Come on, Barney." Rudy said through clenched teeth. "Hurry up!"

"Rudy, he's looking!" Penny turned and glared at her friend. She understood the frustration. She was getting impatient, too. But them spouting at Barney would not make him go any faster.

"Okay then! I found something!" Barney began to relay what he had found. "The blindtrap is not able to see. Reacts to sound only. Too much sound causes it distress." At this, he whipped his head in Rudy's direction. "You need to draw something that..."

"I can't, remember?" Rudy growled in frustration. "No magic chalk!"

Penny looked up in horror, her blood running cold. "Well I hope you figure out something soon. Because I don't think Snap has much longer left..."

Penny couldn't take her eyes away from the thing. Snap was struggling inside, and each movement seemed to get weaker and weaker. She was surprised that he had been able to struggle this long. How long would he be able to last before he...?

"Snap! Let him go, you monster!"

Penny's eyes widened in horror when she saw Rudy charge towards the vine creature. She held her hand out. "Rudy! Stop!"

Her words couldn't stop him. All she could do was stand there and watch in fear as her best friend rushed out towards the creature.

sss

Kairos sat perched on a high ledge. He was watching the spectacle down below. He knew a back way in here, without having to go through that dreadful vortex thing that the blindtrap uses to disorient its prey. He was not interested in having his own personal fears being thrust at him.

What did interest him, however, were the events taking place right now in this cave.

Those two brats and the centipede going up against the blindtrap to save their pitiful little blue friend. It was a spectable he didn't think he'd see coming in. But now that he was witnessing it for himself, he couldn't help but smile. This was going to be quite the show. Far more interesting than he thought it was going to be.

He kept himself out of sight. He took care not to press himself against the sharp rocks. Though he could not feel the pain associated with them, he was still full aware of what would happen if he wasn't careful. He did not want to slice his feet up and risk getting an infection.

At least keeping the others from noticing him was easy. They were too busy trying to do something to rescue their friend to pay attention to him. That meant that he could make his move soon.

But not yet. First he wanted to watch them. He wanted to see what they were capable of in this situation without any magic chalk to help them. This...was going to be quite fun to watch. He couldn't help but stretch his bronze beak into a wide smile.

He could feel himself grow more and more excited on the inside. He could feel his heart pumping with adrenaline. He could feel his body start to quake as he felt the emotion sweep through his body relentlessly. He thought he was going to explode. It took all of his strength to keep himself from lunging down there and doing something himself.

A part of him wanted to rip into them himself. A part of him wanted to take his metal feathers and slice into their bodies, feel their blood, hear them gasping for breath. He still wanted to show them what real fear was like. He did not think he got the message through completely with Barney. No, it would be better if he had a little fun with Rudy, Penny, and Snap himself. Oh the things he could do to them...

The only reason he held back was because King Zander wanted them to stay alive for however long he felt they deserved it. And even when he decided to get rid of them, Kairos didn't really know if they would be killed by beast or by one of his men. It was not his decision to make. The odds of him being chosen for the task were slim to none.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try to butter up to the king in order to get that position. He had managed to get the role of general; he could easily get the role of executioner. He scraped his metal feathers together. He would be perfect for the job.

As he stared at them, watching them beginning their fight against the blindtrap, he couldn't help but keep his eyes locked on Barney. He took notice of the blood stains on his hands. Although he knew that wasn't Barney's blood, the sight of it did cause Kairos to start licking his lips slowly. He had never thought about it before, but...perhaps a little change in diet is in order.

He raised his left foot into the air. He curled his talons inward, letting them gleam a little in the light. All it would take is a single strike in the right spot, and that centipede would be his. His body was so long and each section was so...round. What kind of meat was he hiding underneath there? What did he taste like?

And Snap didn't look half bad either. Too small to be a meal. But he'd make a great snack, perhaps. He didn't have that big of a body, but he was probably still packed with flavor. And his head, so large and around. It must house a big brain, right? Those were probably rather tasty.

He shook his head, snapping himself back to reality. He couldn't let himself fall into his predatory instincts. He remembered what happened to Barney. He let out a low growl to himself and moved a little. Regaining his rational side, he hunkered down like a bird about to lay an egg. He watched from a safe distance as the fight continued. He would remain here until he saw an opening to make his move.

And judging from this rate, he didn't think he'd have to wait for too long.

sss

Rudy let out a grunt as the vine creature knocked him back. He rolled across the ground. He howled in pain when his broken arm was hit. He clutched it to himself and trumbled. He glared in the direction of the plant, baring his teeth. He wasn't giving up yet. He just needed to figure out the perfect strategy and..

The blindtrap wasn't finished with him yet. One of its tendrils wrapped around his leg and pulled him up into the air. He dangled up there and was tossed from side to side. He scrambled to hold on with his one hand. But that hardly did anything. No matter how hard he held on, the creature just kept shaking him, making him slowly lose his grip. Soon he no longer could hold on and he was tossed through the air.

He cried out in pain when his back was thrust against the hard, rocky surface. He slid down, hanging his head over. He shut his eyes softly and let out a groan. He clenched his teeth and hissed. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. Then again, whoever said it was going to be easy?

"Rudy! You need to stop!" Penny called out to him. "We need a strategy! Come back here!"

Rudy's rational side wanted to listen to her, but his impulsive side wanted to keep going. Snap was in that pod. He needed help. He was trying to escape, and sooner or later, he was going to fail completely. He would stop moving because those stomach acids or whatever were going to get to him eventually. There was no time to plan. If they didn't do something soon...

Rudy got up to his feet. Ignoring the cries from his friend and centipede, Rudy dashed again towards the blindtrap. He thought that maybe if he ran around a bit, zigzagging, he would be able to confuse the plant monster and he could get to the vine.

So as he ran, he didn't go in a straight line like he had been before. He jumped from one side to the other, making the chase very erratic. The plant kept trying to get to him, swinging its vines in his direction. And for a while, the vines kept on missing, the tendrils grazing him by an inch at least, if not more. Rudy was getting ever closer to the pod where Snap was being held. He pushed himself to move faster, his heart tightening up in emotion as he neared where his friend was.

He wanted to tell Snap that he was almost there, but at the moment, his voice was gone. He was too busy panting and trying to dodge the tendrils to be able to speak. It was probably for the best. If he made anymore noise, then this creature might catch him.

Almost there... Just a few feet in front of him. If he could just keep up the pace, he could lunge at the pod and force this thing to let his friend go.

Then the rug was pulled out from underneath him. Before he knew it, a tendril wrapped around his body and raised him up. He struggled frantically, kicking his legs. His eyes bulged and he let out a bloodcurdling scream when the tendrils squeezed his broken arm tightly, causing an eruption of pain throughout his body.

"Rudy!" Penny's voice echoed in the chamber.

Rudy opened up one eye and saw that Penny and Barney were coming over towards him. He clenched his teeth tightly as each breath became harder and harder to take. "N-No..." He choked out. "S-Stay back..."

He then closed his eyes as his vision became a little blurry from the pain. He knew his friends weren't going to listen to him. He didn't know why he even bothered to try to tell them to leave. He could only hope that they were smart enough to stay away. He didn't want them to get hurt, too.

As he was being squeezed to death, he could see his life flashing before his eyes. Even with them closed, he could see flash after flash. Some good memories, others bad. All of them made his eyes start to water.

So, this is how it was going to end, eh? He had always expected that he might die on some grand adventure. He just never thought he would lose his life so quickly, and in such a way, too. To be strangled to death by some vine-like creature in ChalkZone. Heh, at least no one could say he died a boring death. He smiled bitterly at that poor excuse for a joke as he awaited his end.

Suddenly, the pressure was removed from his body. The sudden loss of pressure caused him to intake a sharp breath as he plummeted to the ground. He ignored the pain in his shoulder as he sat up. He let out a low groan as his body reverberated with pain. It took him several seconds to open up his eyes and see just what was going on.

He could see Barney and Penny standing there. Rudy felt a wave of confusion rush through him. Why didn't they run? How exactly did they even make the creature let go? He didn't see any kind of weapon or anything. What happened?

He didn't have time to fully register this as Barney rushed towards him. He grabbed onto him and helped him up to his feet. He was saying something to him. Rudy wasn't sure exactly. Maybe something about how he was feeling. Rudy tried to speak. He could only manage a few coughs as he tried to get all the dust and dirt from his mouth.

He was aware of Barney taking him towards one of the nearest walls and had him lean against it. Rudy shut his eyes for a few moments, trying to regain his composure. He could hear a few sounds away from him. They were too confusing for him to make out right now. He wondered just how badly he had been struck.

Then after a few more seconds, he started to understand the speech again. He could hear Barney calling out to him, waving his hand in front of him and trying to get him to respond.

Rudy stared at him, still a little dazed at first. He then shook his head and placed his hand against the side of his face. "Wow...what happened...?"

"You need to lay down." Barney told him gently. "You hit your head pretty badly."

"My head...?" Rudy didn't notice it before, but now that Barney mentioned it, the side of his head did feel rather sore. Was that why he was so disoriented earlier? "Wh-Where's...?"

"Penny is distracting the blindtrap."

Rudy opened his eyes and looked over around the cave room. He soon saw Penny facing off against the blindtrap. She was doing her best to dodge it. She was getting closer to Snap like he did. She was doing a better job than him, too, likely due to the benefit of having both arms in tact.

Rudy felt a compulsion to help. He started to climb up to his feet. He soon managed to stand up. He took a step forward. Suddenly a wave of dizziness struck him. He let out a cry of pain and immediately dropped down to his knees. He could feel Barney calling out to him and asking if he was okay. Rudy found it hard to answer, and he just clutched his head and gritted his teeth.

But he couldn't just give up. Penny needed his help. He had to do something, before...

He heard a small clanging sound. Then something rolling towards him. He whipped his head around, his eyes scanning the ground for the source of the noise. He soon settled his eyes upon something that he didn't expect to see, and yet had grown accustomed to, with all that was going on.

He picked up the new piece of magic chalk. Just like the others, this one had been broken. Snapped into pieces, and he only got one piece. He held it up, pressing it between two fingers. The piece was less than an inch long. He stared at it closely, examining it. There wasn't much that could be drawn with this piece. But, maybe there was enough to...

Ignoring Barney's confused cries, Rudy dashed out to where Penny was currently being swung into the ground. He raised up the tiny piece of chalk and began to draw.

All the while, he was not aware of the gleaming orange eyes watching him with great interest...


	24. Arrival

Snap wasn’t sure what was going on. He could hardly see anything. And his hearing was quite grabled up. He thought he could make out flashes and shadows. He was certain he could hear his frieds calling out to him. They sounded so far away...

He was aware of being in something wet and warm. Yet there was nothing comfortable about this warmth. It didn’t make him feel secure. It made him feel terrified. He was trying to push himself out. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did, it just wasn’t working. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to make sense of what was happening to him.

Why was he feeling so weak now? Why was he wanting to just collapse down and close his eyes? The back of his mind knew he was in danger and prevented him from closing his eyes for too long. Yet the temptation was getting harder and harder to resist.

And why was his body feeling all tingly? Was it because...?

Snap felt his eyes widen into saucers when something finally clicked with him. He thought back to that goolah monster that he and Penny had been swallowed by. This had the same sensation as that. And that only meant one thing.

He was being digested alive.

He scrambled to get out. He pushed against the walls around him. They were soft, and he felt them partially give way as he pushed them. He pushed harder again and again, applying as much pressure as he could. As the tingly sensation began to get worse, he slammed against the walls around him. He let out shouts and cries to be freed.

But nothing changed his situation. He remained trapped in the...whatever this thing was. He couldn’t even see where he was. Not even his own hands in front of his face. He was unable to tell just how much damage had been done to him. He was starting to detect a strange odor though...

His heart pounding in his chest, he struck against the wall more, using up more and more of his strength. But no matter what, the walls weren’t bursting. He then tried to just stand still and push until it gave way. He leaned against it, his hands pressed against the moist wall. He applied pressure, but he only succeeded in causing himself to drop down to his knees. He flinched when he felt some of the digestive juices himself in the face. He scrambled to wipe it off.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been struggling. For all he knew, several hours had passed by. He could feel himself grow weaker as time passed on. His struggles grew less and less powerful. He found it increasingly difficult to push against the walls, and his eyes were getting harder to stay open.

Soon he slumped down. He tried not to, but he was unable to keep his eyes open. They slowly closed and he collapsed onto the ground. He could feel the warm, yuckiness of the digestive fluids all around him. It started to rise a little, covering him up a bit. He could feel the tingly sensation increase, spreading throughout his small body. Realizing what was going to happen to him, Snap allowed a single tear to stroll down his face.

He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. Of all the ways to go.. Why did it have to be like this? Why digested alive? That was such a...a cruel fate. He tried to be strong and face his incoming demise with dignity. But all he succeeded in doing was letting out a small whimper of fear.

Rudy, Penny, everyone else... He was going to miss them.

He could feel the tingly sensation start to grow painful. He sucked in a sharp breath. He would have struggled. He lost too much strength to do that at this point. He could only just lay there and take it.

Without warning, there was a loud thud. A whack. He was shaken up, thrown to the side as the pod was hit by something. Snap grunted and coughed as some of the digestive fluids got into his mouth. He wiped it off his tongue in a panic before being tossed forward without any warning. He landed upside down and slid, his whole body getting more soaked.

Then suddenly, with a jerk towards the back, the thing that was holding Snap apparently couldn’t do so anymore. He could feel himself being pulled back and, with a loud wretching sound, whatever had a hold of him suddenly released him.

The flash of light from being in the dark so long caused him to shut his eyes and clench his teeth. He could feel himself being tossed through the air. He then became aware of smashing into the ground. He rolled across the floor painfully, and he was certain he slid in a few circles before finally reaching a stop against something hard yet warm.

“Snap!” A garbled voice called out to him. “Are you okay?!”

Snap didn’t answer the voice at first. He was too dazed and confused from what happened. He just laid there, half expecting something to drag him up into the air and dangle him like he was some sort of pinata. Only when he started to feel some of his senses return did he open up his eyes.

He could see Barney standing there, his eyes filled with worry. Snap stared at him for a few moments before he shut his eyes and coughed a few times. He slowly pushed himself up off the ground. He stumbled forward and Barney managed to catch him, holding him up. Barney kept him steady while his mind struggled to stop spinning.

“D-Define o-o-okay.” Snap managed to matter while he was trying to settle his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear it the best he could.”

Penny came towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “How are you feeling? Anything hurt?”

Snap flinched and rubbed his arm a little. “Everything tingles..” He couldn’t believe he worded it like that. He needn’t explain it any further with Penny for her to understand what he meant.

Penny turned to Barney. “We need to get the rest of the digestive juices off of him!”

Barney nodded in agreement. “Yes, but what about Rudy?”

Snap’s eyes widened at the mention of his friend’s name. He looked left and right and realized that Rudy wasn’t in this group. He took in a few quick breaths. Where had his friend gone? He struggled to find him, ignoring the unsteadiness of his head as he did so. He soon found him.

Rudy was going up against the vine creature. He had some kind of long bat drawn. This caused some brief confusion in Snap. Why would Rudy draw something like that? Its only use was.... Unless Rudy meant to attack with it. Snap could feel the pieces of the puzzle fall rapidly into place as the complete picture came to view. Yes, that’s what was going on. Rudy must not have had much of a choice.

Snap felt the compulsion to run towards his friend and help him. The only thing that stopped him was his own weakness. He was still zapped of his strength. He struggled to even remain on his feet. Even with Penny and Barney’s help, there was little he could do to keep his feet from slipping from underneath himself.

He watched helplessly as Rudy continued to go up against the vine creature. He soon realized that Rudy was not attacking the blindtrap that much. Only occassionally would he strike. Most of his blows were towards the ground, confusing the creature. The sudden shakes weren’t from Rudy’s strikes, but rather from the creature’s attempt to get at something that wasn’t even there.

“Rudy! Snap is out! Let’s get out of here!” Penny shouted to him. “Get away from the blindtrap!”

This turned out to be a mistake on Penny’s part. The blindtrap had heard her and now it was moving one of its ‘heads’ towards her. The image caused Snap to flash back to how he had gotten in that situation. He had been walking through and he ended up shouting for help, and he had attracted the attention of this creature and...

Snap resisted the urge to call out to Penny, knowing that his cries would only make things worse. He wriggled himself free and managed to pull her back as the vine got closer.

Thankfully, it didn’t get too close as Rudy had rushed over and struck it. The sound of the piece of metal clanging against the stem, echoing in the cave, could be heard. The vine creature would have let out a loud hiss if it had any vocal cords. Instead, it merely wriggled and quivered in what Snap guessed was pain. It turned its attention towards its attacker.

The blind trap struck out at Rudy again and again, each time just narrowly missing the boy. It kept trying to gulp him in one of its ‘mouths’, condemning him to the same slow death that he nearly suffered himself. Snap could feel his blood run cold at this realization. If something isn’t done soon...

He narrowed his eyes. They had to do something to help Rudy. There was no indication of how long he’d be able to keep this up. If this went on for too long, Rudy would surely run out of gas. The blindtrap might be able to have near boundless energy, but Rudy did not. It wasn’t like Rudy could rush over towards them. With all those strikes that the vine thing was making... That task was impossible. He needed help.

Snap looked at Penny and Barney. “We need to distract the thing!” He watched as the two exchanged worried looks with each other. “We need to draw its attention away from Rudy!”

This is something the two didn’t disagree on. He could see the looks in their eyes. He could see the way they were looking at Rudy. There was also fear in those eyes, too. Snap didn’t need them to speak to know what was going on in their heads.

How would they pull this off without accidentally bringing harm to Rudy? That was not going to be an easy thing to accomplish. If they messed this up, then they could hurt, or worse. Yet...there was little choice in the matter. They needed to take this risk, or they would potentially lose Rudy to this thing.

Now managing to fully steady himself on his feet, Snap glared in the direction of the blindtrap. Barney and Penny stood beside him, giving him a downwards glance, waiting for him to speak. Snap glared in the direction of the vine creature. He could feel his heart pounding. He formed a fist with his hand. It was now or never.

“Let’s go.”

With that, the group began to rush over towards the blindtrap.

sss

Mr. Tabootie acted like he was fine and did his best to maintain his composure. That was only because he wanted to be brave for his wife. He didn’t want to make himself look emotionally broken in front of her. He may look strong on the outside, but inside, he was ripped apart.

He was beside himself in worry. He was leaning against the wall, staring sadly at his wife as she sat down on the couch. Her head was bowed, the house phone still clutched tightly in her hands. She had hardly moved since she had gotten that dreaded phone call. She didn’t speak, didn’t even eat anything, despite being hungry prior. She was just...quiet.

It wasn’t like he could blame her. The phonecall she had recieved was...rather disturbing. And it was from one of their own friends. It was from Mrs. Sanchez, or Dr. Sanchez as she prefers to be called officially. She had alerted them to some rather disturbing knews.

And that news was their children were missing.

As soon as they had gotten the news, the two adults were in denial at first. They refused to believe that their son had lied to them. They refused to believe that something could have happened to him and his friend. Surely, this had to be some kind of mistake.

But when his wife had called up the school and asked them, their worst fears became a reality. Their children had never shown up, and had apparently called in sick. The field trip pick up as at the school, not at the library like their children had stated. And when they checked, the librarians were unable to find their kids. This only left them with the conclusion that their children were indeed gone.

Where could they have gone? What could have happened? The fact that it was the library did little to help them. That library was so quiet, if someone were stealthy enough, they could have...

Mr. Tabootie tried to keep those horrible thoughts out of his head. Rudy and Penny were fine. They..They were probably just playing hooky. He had done that a couple times when he was a kid. He wouldn’t be happy with his son, but he would much rather that, than believe that something awful happened to him.

He took in a deep breath and sighed. He tried his best to relax. He told himself that everything was going to be okay. He had already called the police a few minutes ago on his cellphone. They would take care of things. He would see, and his wife and Mrs. Sanchez would also see. The police would find their kids and bring them home safe and sound.

He could hear his wife give a few sniffles. “Oh, Rudy... Why..? Why did you do this..?”

Mr. Tabootie bit his lip. It hurt him so much to see his wife like this. This wasn’t like the time when Rudy disappeared for a few hours before their trip. His wife looked much more devastated now, because Rudy was missing and no one knew where he was. And he knew, deep down, if the police don’t find him...

He curled his fingers against his palm. He had to try to stay hopeful, especially for his wife. She needed it. They all needed it. It was all they could do while they waited for word from the police regarding their children.

He began to make his way towards his wife. It didn’t take him long to reach her. She looked up and saw him. He stared down at her sadly, biting his lip. He reached down and touched her gently on her arm reassuringly. His wife stared at him, her lower lip quivering.

“Shh...” He reached down and stroked away a tear from her eye. “It’s going to be okay. They will find them. You’ll see.”

“I...How can you be so sure?” His wife squeaked out. “What...What if they...?”

“Now, now Millie...” Mr. Tabootie cupped his wife’s chin gently, tilting it upwards. “You shouldn’t think such things. They will be fine. Everything is going to be fine.”

His wife sniffled and a few tears streamed down her face. “I..I hope you’re right, Joe.” She shut her eyes and whimpered softly. “I-I hope you’re right..”

Mr. Tabootie bit his lip as he listened to his wife start crying. He moved in closer and wrapped his arms around her large body. She returned the hug, cuddling up against him. She placed her head against his shoulder and cried into it. Mr. Tabootie ignored the wetness on his shoulder as he gently rubbed his wife’s back, whispering soft words of comfort to her.

sss

Rudy laid on the ground, the whole side of his body pounding in pain. He looked out in horror at what was going on. He tried to get up and help. He only ended up slipping and falling back down. He tried to ignore the pain that wracked through his body as his slightly unfocused eyes watched his friends distract the blindtrap.

They were doing a pretty good job at first. They had been able to stay one step ahead of the creature, forcing it to move in different directions just to get them, dividing its attention. This was a useful strategy...for only a few minutes.

Now, as he watched, they were being cornered against one of the walls. The creature had gotten smart and started to strike on either side of them. How it was able to do this without seeing them was beyond him, but it wasn’t something that was on his mind. Right now, all he could think of was trying to find some way to save them. If he didn’t get up and go to them soon...

Slowly he started to push himself up to his feet. He wobbled back and forth before he managed to stop himself from falling down. He stared in the direction of the blindtrap, his mind racing as he struggled to think of exactly what to do.

His eyes soon fell upon something that he hadn’t noticed about the blindtrap. There appeared to be a bulbeous sack located against the wall. This seemed to be the origin of this creature, where it was rooted to the ground. He theorized that this must be its most vulnerable spot. If he were to strike it, then he might be able to make the creature let go of his friends and they could make a run for it.

But that area was quite well guarded. There were many of those ‘head’ things around, the vines wriggling around like snakes. How would he get around them?

A sudden scream made him realize that he had to act fast. The blindtrap had struck at his friends, knocking them to the ground. The largest ‘head’ was moving towards them and was getting ready to eat them whole. His breath quickened as he stared from that, then to the bulbeous structure in the wall. It was now or never.

Without further hesitation, Rudy, knowing what he had to do, made a run for it towards that bulbeous structure. He ran as fast as he could, his mouth open and panting heavily. He jumped over the vines as he lashed out towards him. He moved from side to side, barely avoiding getting hit. The adrenaline that pumped through his body made it possible for him to ignore the pain, and allow him to focus only on one thing: saving his friends.

The blindtrap didn’t make things easy for him. It kept trying to get at him, striking at him blindly. He dodged from side to side, narrowing his eyes in determination. His eyes concentrated on that bulbeous structure. He was getting closer. Just a little more...

He nearly tripped when his foot caught on one of the vines. He screamed and stumbled forward, raising his right arm into the air and struggling to get some footing. He moved around in a circle or two in his struggle to keep standing. Then he continued on running, taking one step that was a little too big, which nearly caused him to fall down again.

Once he was close enough to the structure, he tightened up the muscles in his right arm. He pulled it back and, without thinking, he struck down as hard as he could. He immediately recoiled from the waves shooting up the bat along his arm.

This action caused the blindtrap to turn its attention fully on him. He stared up at the creature, trying his best to hide his fear. He glared at it, baring his teeth in determination. All he had to do was keep this thing’s attention long enough to allow his friends to get away.

“Rudy! No! Get back!”

Rudy refused to move. He hunched his body, preparing to jump out of the way before the creature could attack. The large ‘head’ hovered over him, moving from one side to the other. It was trying to disorient him. Rudy did his best to keep his mind focused, eyes pointed towards the ceiling while using his side vision to keep attention to the moving head.

The creature struck. He jumped, narrowly missing getting hit. The head pulled back and it tried again, snapping its ‘jaws’ where he once stood. Rudy did his best to dodge, but he could already feel his heart pounding and burning. How much longer could he keep this up before...?

He let out a scream of fright when he was nearly taken off guard with one of the smaller heads. He struck out in self defense, striking the head and making it fold backwards. The head hit against the bulbeous structure, and when it pulled its head back, there was a ripping sound.

Rudy’s eyes widened at this sound. He looked over and saw that, somehow, the creature had managed to bite itself. Its tooth-like structures had severed its own body, and now there was a deep gash in it. Something was spilling out rapidly from the wound, and the creature was responding in agony. Its heads raised up and violently quivered. All Rudy could do was stare in shock.

“Rudy! We need to get going!”

Rudy could barely respond as Penny and Snap grabbed onto him. They had immediately started to run. Rudy’s eyes remained open, glued to the creature. The last thing he saw before they disappeared out of that cave room was the creature starting to wither, which made Rudy come to a horrifying conclusion.

The creature was being eaten alive by its own digestive juices...

sss

Rudy was still in a daze after what had happened. He had not spoken a word since they had gotten out. He could not react to anything. His mind was locked in that shocked state. The only thing he could do was move really slowly behind his friends as they moved along the rocky tunnel, trying to find a way out of here.

Rudy was hardly aware of anything. He could see the rounded, dug out tunnel they were in. He could see the small lights that had been set up by someone obviously using part of these tunnels for something. But his mind wasn’t fully registering it.

His friends had already tried to cheer him up. They tried to get him to realize that it wasn’t his fault. But their words had no effect on him. He knew that, deep down, it was his fault. He had allowed this to happen. He should have known better. And because of him, the blindtrap was dead.

After what he had seen, there was no doubt in his mind that it was dead. There was no way that it could have survived that. He could hear it being to crumble apart as they had left. He could hear it collapse. If they went back down there now, they would find that it was dead. And it was all because of him...

Now he knew what his friends had gone through. He knew their pain, their mental suffering. He knew what it felt like to take a life without meaning to. He knew the feeling was bad, but he never knew it would be this awful and twisted. He felt like he was going to throw up. He wondered how the others had managed to keep moving as they did.

He couldn’t believe he had done that. He... He never meant to hurt the creature that bad... He was just trying to defend himself and his friends. Was that so wrong...?

He should have been more careful. He should have aimed better. He should have done more avoiding, less striking. He should have done something else to help his friends. He could have done something to avoid killing the blindtrap. If he had only just...

“Rudy, I know what you’re thinking.” Penny said.

Rudy turned his head, his mind finally snapping to attention, out of his thoughts. He looked at Penny, who had came up to him and began to walk beside him. She was looking at him sternly, sympathetically. He didn’t answer her, and just looked away.

“I know how you feel. But...you have to understand..it wasn’t your fault.” Penny gently gripped his arm. Rudy flinched and pulled away. “Rudy, you need to stop kicking yourself over this. There’s nothing that can be done now.”

Rudy sighed. “I should have...”

“You should have nothing.” Penny cut him off before he could finish. “It was an accident. We all felt your pain and you know that. You were there for us. Now we will be here for you. It wasn’t your fault.”

Rudy wasn’t sure how much he could believe her. He had just killed something with his own hands. Okay so the creature struck itself. But it was still his blow that had caused it. He had used the bat to strike the head and that caused the head to hit itself against is body. That had been his actions. He..He should have been more careful.

But she was right about one thing. She did understand. They all understood. They all now had one thing in common: they had all killed, taken a life during their stay here. They all now had to live with the consequence of their actions. Their innocense had been shattered. Even if they got out of here alive, there was no way they would be able to return to exactly how they were. The memory of their kills would continue to haunt them.

He wondered how the Chalklantians were going to handle the kills. Would they use it as more of a reason to hate them? He imagined so. Especially with that grasshopper zoner that Barney had killed. That had been a sentient zoner. What if he had some friends that was in the audience at the colosseum? What would they think when they find out that their friend was dead...?

“It’s okay, Rudy.” Penny leaned and put her arm around him. Rudy could feel her warmth traveling through his body. “It’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

Rudy looked over at her. He stared into her eyes. He found it hard to look away. They were just so comforting. He soon found himself smiling, in spite of himself, and leaned against her, seeking her comfort and warmth. She obligued, holding him tighter with one arm.

Rudy realized that she was right. They had been in sticky situations before. Things might look bad now, but..they will work out, somehow. She was right; he couldn’t allow the creature’s death haunt him. It was an accident. He hadn’t meant to do it. He needed to learn to forgive himself. Even if he wasn’t able to right now, he needed to work up the courage to do so. Otherwise, he’d never recover.

He looked over at her and gave her a smile. “Thank you...” He whispered softly.

Penny smiled back at him. She pressed her forehead against him in a nuzzle. “You’re welcome, Rudy.”

“Hey, you two! Look here!”

Rudy and Penny looked over at where their friends were. They could see them standing on what appeared to be the very edge of the tunnel. They were frozen, as if they were in awe at whatever they were seeing. The two looked at each other, and then they began to walk forward slowly. It didn’t take them long to reach Barney and Snap.

Rudy looked down at Snap. The blue zoner noticed him immediately. He waved his hand forward and motioned it out in front of him. “Look over there.”

Rudy and Penny walked forward. Barney and Snap stepped aside to give them room. The two children stood on the edge of the tunnel, and stared out at what was ahead of them.

The first thing they noticed was the brighter light. They had to turn their heads away, feeling an ache in their eyes. They had to shut them tightly, clenching their teeth. After they managed to recover, they slowly opened up their eyes and looked over at ahead once more. This time, they were able to see just what was down below them.

They couldn’t help but gasp in shock. They glanced at each other and then their friends. They wondered if what they were seeing was real. It... It couldn’t be possible that they had..

But no matter how many times they rubbed their eyes and blinked, the image stayed the same. That was when they realized that it was true.

They had made it back to the city.


	25. Cautionary Steps

Kairos remained perched high up, his claws gripping the rock ledge tightly. He peered down and watched the group as they ventured further out. He had seen them hesitate as they looked at their surroundings. He had seen them speak with each other. He did not hear them, but then, he didn't need to. All he was told to do at this point was observe.

Well that, and drop of pieces of magic chalk strategically. The king would always message him through the walkie-talkie styled communication devices, letting him know when it was time to drop off another piece. They had been few and far between. The king didn't want to make things too easy for them.

If it had been up to Kairos, he probably would not have dropped off any, and force the group to rely on their own wits to get out. He didn't have much doubt that they could do it. Not after how he had seen them handle their previous situations. Magic chalk certainly helped, but most of the time, they had to rely on their own skill. Specifically, their intelligence.

Ah, intelligence... The main weapon, the strongest weapon, the one that would surely secure victory after victory. If someone didn't have a decent level of intelligence, then anything they would try would be moot. Easily thwarted. He would almost pity any idiot who was actually dumb enough to try to stand in the way of a true genius.

He continued to watch them as the group headed out further, going towards a new pathway. It would seem they finally made up their minds on where they were going to go. He had to wonder what they were going to do. It wasn't like they could hide very easily here.

The tunnel they had taken had gotten them back to the Chalklantis City. Specifically, one of the backwaters of it. An area they hadn't really seen up close for themselves, but he was certain they had seen it while he was taking them for a walk to the palace. Some of these structures could be seen even from that pathway.

Kairos himself had hardly ever been in this particular spot. It wasn't of his duty. So it didn't really matter to him. He wasn't stupid, though. He knew how important this place was.

It was the power plant. This was where all the power in the city came from. The citizens that lived in the city relied on this system for everyday tasks, and of course, for the hospital. The machines can't run any other way. If the power goes out, they might as well kiss goodbye to a chunk of the population.

The place was surrounded by a tall gate, with barbed wire at the top. It was set by a large river, which was fed by the sea itself. There were a few pipes that jetted out of the ground and looped back in, and others that were positioned off the ground. There were a few large buildings set near each other. Two had some smoke coming out of them while the third rested at the water's edge. It had a wheel with platforms moving through the water, turning it slowly.

Although it could not be seen, there were all kinds of wires and more pipes hidden underneath. These carried the power all across the underwater cave, powering not just the city, but the light crystals that were spread throughout, which substituted the sun. These had to be set in place because the plants were starting to die off so long ago, he couldn't even remember the exact date anymore.

Completing the image was a large yellow and black striped sign that warned intruders to stay out. Only certain zoners were permitted to go in. He himself could head in as he was the second-in-command of this place. He just chose not to, as he would rather not waste his time with this place. He had other obligations.

He could see the group was getting closer towards the power plant. He couldn't tell if they were going to head straight in or not. He narrowed his eyes, turning his head slightly to one side. He had to wonder what they were up to. Could they be...?

No, probably not. There wasn't any other way down. They weer probably just going to pass through. Still, he needed to keep an eye on them to make sure they weren't going to do anything. They were already in enough hot water with killing those zoners. They did not need anything else to add to their plate.

After all, if they get into too much trouble, then it might be a little hard for the king to keep them alive for long. He may order their assassination. And while Kairos would love to be the one to do that, he still doubted he'd be chosen. This meant that the only time he would get to play with them was during whenever they were eventually recaptured.

True, King Zander could go against what the people want and keep the group alive, but that would cause problems for later. It was imperative that they keep the people's trust. Otherwise, things will just get a lot harder in the future.

There was more going on than either he nor his king were willing to say. But that wasn't a problem so long as the citizens trusted them. If they were given any reason to doubt them... And if they start asking questions...

Kairos shook his head. He shouldn't worry about that. Everything was going to be fine. King Zander figured out as much as he could, and he had made adjustments along the way. Everything had been more or less fine up to this point. So long as they keep this up, things would work out in the end.

He gritted his beak. That didn't mean he was entirely fond of this plan. He would remain prepared for the worst.

Seeing the group had moved down further, he lifted up his walkie-talkie and, in a low, soft voice, he began to speak into it. "You see where they are going?"

He could feel his eyes glow red, and then he heard the king say, "Yes, I do. I see they are near the power plant."

Kairos nodded his head. "What shall I do, sire?"

There was a moment of silence as the king contemplated the next move. It took a few minutes before he gave an answer.

"Follow them."

The same two words he had been told before. The same thing he had been doing this whole time. Kairos resisted the urge to groan. Nonetheless, he obeyed. He spread his wings and was about to take to the skies.

He paused. No, that would not be a good idea. He had no cover up there. It was different before. They were so busy being chased, it was easy to find a place to hide. No, this time, he would just walk. There were plenty of cave-like structures to hide behind, and plenty of shadows due to the buildings. He should be able to get in close and hide himself without the group realizing he was there.

Taking in a deep breath, he began to move in closer, keeping his body low.

sss

Denny felt some level of guilt of having to call the parents. He couldn't imagine what was running through their minds right now.

They had thought that their kids were safe and sound, only to realize that they had lied to them. Mrs. Sanchez had made it clear to him on the phone that she had dropped her daughter and her friend off there because of some field trip, to which Denny knew had been a lie. The library had never arranged such a thing.

But he didn't feel too guilty about it. The parents did deserve to know about this. They were their kids after all. He might not be overtly fond of them, but he did feel some sympathy for parents when their child goes missing.

Plus, this whole thing could work in his favor. He could use this incident as more reason why his boss should not be in charge anymore. If he had been vigilant and actually doing his job, he would have known that the school bus was not going to pick up Rudy or Penny there like they said was arranged. He would have known they were playing hooky and called their parents right away.

Yes this incident would indeed help him out. It would secure his case rather well. Children gone missing because the manager didn't bother to check to make sure that they were actually supposed to be there. If he knew these parents well enough, they would definitely bring this incident up.

For now, all he could do was wait. He couldn't make a move just yet. He still needed to get ready. Ian was going through more footage and see if there was anything else they could use. Or rather, he could use. Ian was not fond of betraying his boss, but with the blackmail he had given him, he would not dare disobey.

Besides, this would all be for the better anyway. This library would go through huge changes that would make this a better place to work and be. Everyone would benefit from it. Even the little brats that scurry around like some kind of vermin. Oh sure, the children might complain about things being too strict. But they would eventually thank them, even if it takes them until adulthood to realize it.

There was one thing, though, he still couldn't understand. None of the footage he had seen helped out either. There was one piece of the puzzle that he still wanted to figure out as soon as possible.

Why were Rudy and Penny so interested in the chalkboard?

He remembered the smudges on it. He had realized they weren't there before. They snuck into his office to use it. That seemed rather...random... Unless there was something going on that he wasn't realizing. Just what was it about the chalkboard they wanted so badly? What was he missing?

He supposed the only way to find out was to interrogate them himself.

sss

"Keep low, and move slowly." Penny whispered. Her eyes stared out at the buildings before her. "This place could be heavily guarded."

Snap took a moment to look around. "Well if it is, they are doing a very poor job of it."

Barney turned his head and gave him a sideways glance. "They might all be inside."

"As long as we keep quiet and stay low, I think we should be good." Rudy whispered softly. His narrowed eyes looked left and right, making sure that the coast was clear. "We need to keep an eye out for any kind of map. If there's any place that would have them, this is it."

Penny nodded her head. "I'm not sure which building it would be in, but they may have one on the outside. We should keep our eyes peeled."

"And if someone sees us?" Snap asked.

Penny hesitated, biting her lip. "We run."

Run. Of course. That's all they had been doing. Running. Snap should have known that would be her answer for this.

Then again, they didn't have much of a choice anyway. They were out of magic chalk, again, and they were getting inside enemy territory again. They were in greater danger here than they were back in the mountainous region. At least that place was less populated.

But here? They were getting further and further into the city and closer to the zoners that hate them so much. They had to use extra caution around here. For all they knew, the king's guards were hidden everywhere, watching them, waiting for them to get close enough for an ambush. Without magic chalk and being easily outmatched by the many guards the king had, they really did only have run as an option.

They had originally planned on moving away from this place and finding another pathway that was hidden from the city. Maybe even a way to the tunnels above so they could use the height advantage to see if they could locate the jail from there.

But Penny had a theory. Since this place was a power plant, they would need a map to all places in Chalklantis to know where everything goes, to properly distribute power, and see the status of power all across the underwater cave. If they looked around while remaining out of sight, they may be able to find the map and locate the jail where King Mumbo Jumbo was being held.

Then after that... Well they hadn't gone that far yet. They needed a general location so they could figure out how to get there using the path of least resistance. But even then, they still needed a plan to get the tortoise out of there. Such a task won't be easy. Just how were they going to bypass all that security?

And what of King Zander and his second-in-command, Kairos? They had been able to stay away from them this whole time, but how long would their luck last? What if they were recaptured before they could get out of here? How would they escape?

King Zander would have taken steps to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. He would likely move them to another holding area, or make stronger cages, or set up guards. Anything to keep them from getting away. Then what would he do for punishment? The same arena stuff, or would he think of something different? The thoughts of what that zoner could do to them chilled Snap’s blood, and he knew the others were quite worried as well.

That was why they had to keep moving. They had to take this risk and find that map. They had to figure out which way to go so they could escape from here. If they didn’t do this, then they were running blind, and that would increase their chances of getting recaptured. That was something none of them were willing to do. It was not something they could afford.

The group continued to move along slowly. They kept their bodies pressed against the walls of the buildings. Thankfully the windows were a little high, which made it easier to sneak by. The large rooves casted dark shadows on the ground, which they could use to slip through without attracting someone’s attention if they were looking through one of the windows.

Moving through this place was going to be difficult. They kept looking left and right and trying to see if there was anyone here. They had to remain alert. King Zander’s guards could be hiding anywhere, and they never knew when one of the zoners working in this place would come out.

Snap wondered if it was a good idea for all of them to come. Perhaps only one should have come and scoped out the area. One would have drawn less attention.

Yet... One would have had a harder time defending themselves in case they were spotted. That one would have taken away time from them as they would then have to rescue their comrade before going on the other rescue mission to save King Mumbo Jumbo. There was, after all, safety in numbers.

Snap bit his lip. He hoped that King Mumbo Jumbo was okay. He couldn’t imagine what kind of pain and turmoil Barney would be put through if something were to happen to him. Yet, he doubted that King Mumbo Jumbo was unscathed. King Zander had already proven how dangerous and untrustworthy he was. He might have even...

He shook his head. He tried not to think such horrible thoughts. King Mumbo Jumbo would be fine. He just...had to keep believing that he was. He had to stay positive. If he allowed himself to get too dragged down in emotion, how well would he be able to defend himself, let alone find a way to get the tortoise out of there?

Snap grunted when the group suddenly came to a stop. He nearly collided with Penny. He narrowed his eyes and was about to ask them what the hold up was. But seeing the looks in their eyes, he froze himself. He turned and looked around himself.

They had stopped at a tall incline, leading up to a multi-level building. There were multiple yellow and black warning signs, indicating this must be the main source of power, the one that the other buildings relied on, the heart of this underwater cave. He could practically hear the humming of the machines inside, churning and turning and sparking and twisting.

It took him a few moments, but he was finally able to see what really caused them to freeze.

The door was opening.

Snap’s eyes bulged as he watched the knob turn down slowly. He took a few steps back. Oh no.. If they stayed around here, then...

The small zoner immediately reacted. Upon seeing that his friends weren’t moving, he grabbed onto Penny and Rudy, yanking them back. He then grabbed Barney and tugged on his vest. This helped the three to regain their senses. Following Snap, they immediately rushed to the side of the building. They pressed themselves, trying to hide in the shadows the best they could.

Soon they could hear the door opening from above. They could hear footprings, the clanging of metal as feet hit against the ground. Then they could hear voices.

“Thanks for taking over my shift.”

“Not a problem!”

“I’m going to grab myself something to eat. I’m starving!”

“...Just be careful, okay?”

“Oh not to worry about me. I’ll be fine!”

“Well, you know what they say...”

“I’m aware that there are two ‘creators’ as you put it out there. Do you think I’m scared of them?”

“I just don’t want you getting hurt. You know what King Zander said.”

“King Zander is just paranoid. He always has been. Now, if you excuse me, I need to get going.”

The group stayed low as they heard the zoner come down the steps. They glanced at one another. That one zoner sounded really terrified of them, which didn’t surprise them. The zoners down here don’t seem to have much experience or understanding of creators. Whatever they knew were probably in the form of lies told to them by King Zander himself.

But that one zoner... He didn’t seem afraid of them at all. In fact, he sounded almost... The exact word alluded them, but they had a feeling that if they and him were to confront one another, he would offer them some kind of challenge. He seemed like a thrill seeker. He was brave and outgoing, not afraid to seek an adventure.

This...might prove to be a problem. If he spotted them, then he might end up drawing attention to them. A screaming zoner was bad enough, but if this guy tried to fight them...

Snap’s eyes twinkled as an idea came to him. He turned to the others.

“Hey guys?” He kept his voice as low as possible. They turned to him. “This guy appears to work here, right?”

“Yes...”

“And he would know this place inside and out, right...?”

“What is your point, Snap?”

“Well...” Snap paused, and gave them a look. He let them slowly fill in the blanks of what he was implying. He saw them look confused at first, then widen their eyes in shock.

“W-We can’t...” Rudy whispered. “That is too risky...!”

The footsteps were getting closer. The zoner would be there any moment. He had to make this quick, or else they would miss their chance. “I’m not saying we have to hurt him! Just interrogate him and get the information we need from him!” Although his quick voice was low, he still feared the zoner was going to hear him. “Come on you guys.. He might know where the jail is...! We can ask him and then we can...”

“And then what?” Rudy asked, narrowing his eyes. “Just let him go so he can go and tell someone of what happened?!” He made a few quick gestures with his hand as he spoke.

Snap bit his lip. “I’m sure we can think of something...”

Penny looked over at the stairs nervously. She pulled back and looked at them. “Can you two be quiet? He might hear us.”

Barney fumbled with his fingers, remaining quiet. He looked at everyone. His eyes told them that he wanted to say something, but he either couldn’t think of anything or he was too nervous to speak.

Snap glared at Rudy. He wished that the boy would understand where he was coming from. They knew little of this place, and it was too risky to be walking around here. They needed some inside help, even if they have to force it out of someone. They could pull that off, right? They were able to do the impossible before.

“All I’m saying is...”

“What?”

Snap shut his mouth when he heard a voice cut him off. He widened his eyes slowly as he looked around at his friends. Not one of them had spoken that line. All of them wore horrified expressions on their faces. Slowly, they turned their heads.

There, standing behind them, was a Chalklantian zoner. The same one who had been speaking before. The fearless one. He appeared to be a bird zoner of some king. His overall appearance reminded them of Kairos, except he was a little taller, darker in color, almost black, and his eyes were blue. He donned what appeared to be a grey suit, different from the robes they had seen in other places. It was covered in dirt and dust, indicative of the type of job that he had.

The zoner was regarding them curiously, one eye frowned more deeply than the other. He didn’t appear to regard them with any fear, yet his gaze did not appear to hold much malice, either. That did not make them any less wary of him.

“So you have arrived here. I take it you’re looking for some new targets?” His voice wasn’t accusatory. Just a statement.

“....we just want to leave.” Barney whispered.

The zoner scoffed a bit at this. “Then you will need all the luck in the world.” He spread out his wings. “Even if you get out of here, there is still that shield. How do you plan on getting past that?”

“We’ll...” Rudy spoke too quickly, and he realized he didn’t have anything to continue it with. He stopped himself and sighed. “We don’t know. B-But we’ll figure something out! Won’t we?”

The others nodded in agreement, causing the bird zoner to smile at this. “Well then, perhaps you four truly are as interesting as I thought.” He brought his wings together, tapping the metal tips against one another. “I wonder how well your reputation holds up...”

The group tensed up at this. They hunched their bodies and got ready for a fight. The black bird zoner didn’t attempt to go after them, remaining where he was. He just looked at them, his eyes moving up and down as if to study them carefully. Snap clenched his teeth. He wondered what he was up to.

Then he realized, as his eyes widened, the zoner hadn’t made any sort of threat against them, nor tried to sound the alarm. He was just...standing there, doing nothing except stare at them. What did this bird zoner want with them?

Tired of waiting in silence, Snap took a step forward, forming a fist with his hand. “Look, pal, we don’t have all day. We need to find our friend and get out of here! We don’t have to have to hurt you, but if you don’t...”

Snap paused at this, his eyes widening. He couldn’t believe what he just said. Did he threaten to hurt another zoner? He... No... What was happening to him? He gripped his head and bit his lip. He couldn’t believe he just....did that. The others looked at him, looking shocked as well, their mouths having dropped open. Snap couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

But the zoner didn’t seem to have much problem with what he said at all. In fact, it only seemed to peek his curiosity even further. He tilted his head to one side, interlocking his metal feathers together. “Ah, I see. I suppose my brother was right to fear you.”

The group stared at him in confusion. “Your...brother?”

The bird nodded his head. He placed a wing against his chest. “I am Cameo, the brother of Kairos.”

In that moment, shockwaves of horror swept through the group. They involuntarily gasped and took a step back, unable to tear their eyes away from the zoner. Of all the zoners they had to run into... It just had to be his brother. Kairos’s brother.

They shot each other shocked and fear-filled expressions. What should they do now? There was no doubt in their heads that Cameo would alert his brother to what was going on. They would have to do something soon, before he was able to cause any problems for them.

But..how were they going to be able to pull that off? With those wings, he could take off and fly and sound the alarm. They needed another approach to this. But what could they...?

That was when Barney started to walk forward. Snap looked at him in confusion, as did Rudy and Penny. Just what was he going to do? Even as they called out to him, the zoner ignored them, and he went straight up to Cameo. The two locked eyes with each other, not daring to look away from one another.

Soon Barney rose up onto some of his back legs. This alone caused Snap to cringe in fear. This was exactly what he had done before...

“Barney!” Penny cried. “Don’t do it! You’ll...!”

But Barney did not listen to her. He shot out towards the bird zoner and immediately snagged him. To everyone’s surprise, Cameo didn’t attempt to fight back, instead merely looking annoyed by this turn of events.

Thankfully, Barney didn’t try to hurt him, but they felt very nervous about him holding him like that. But..there were little options. At least would keep him from running around alerting anyone to their presence. This was also a great opportunity to try to interrogate him. Maybe they could squeeze out some kind of information from him.

To their surprise, the zoner seemed quite content. He wasn’t smiling or anything, but he made no attempt to struggle. He merely looked annoyed, but also a little curious. It was as if he had hoped something like this would happen. They weren’t entirely sure what to make of this.

“I see you are all jumpy. Not like I blame you, with all that is going on.” Cameo commented in a casual tone of voice. He merely smiled as they looked at them. “What? It’s true.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes. “We have a few questions to ask you.”

The black bird zoner gave a single chuckle. “Well then, ask away! I am curious to get to know you a little myself.” He leaned his head a little forward. His bronze beak glinted in the light. “I do wonder if my ‘dear’ brother was correct about you.”

Snap clenched his teeth at this. “We won’t give you a chance to alert him.”

Cameo blinked at this. “Alert him? Why would I want to do that?”

Snap was confused by this. “Because..he’s your brother...?”

Cameo turned his head and gritted his beak. He held an expression that was of pure disgust. “After the way he stole my dream job of being the general to the king, I have little reason to care about him. I’ve been wanting to get back at him for years.” He then smiled, his eyes narrowing in a sly manner. “This would be a great way to do that.”

Snap wasn’t sure what to think of this. He didn’t know if this zoner was being truthful or not. Even if he was, he wasn’t sure how they should take it. On the one hand, they could get information that they so desperately needed. But on the other, if he’s willing to betray his own brother...

“Then again, the king isn’t exactly my type either. I think...I think I would be able to run this joint better, personally.” Cameo admitted. His smile faded as he seemed to go deep in thought. It was difficult to pinpoint the exact emotion that was on his face. “But...I never could make my move. It was always too risky.”

“How...How can we trust you?” Barney said as he turned his head to look down at the zoner he held. “Kairos hasn’t exactly been a real bundle of joy...”

Rudy nodded in agreement. “He’s a monster.”

“I’m not my brother.” Cameo stated the obvious.

“We are aware of that. But... After the way we’ve been treated... Just...” Penny sighed softly. “How can we trust you?”

“Yeah. How do we know you aren’t trying to alert the king now?” Snap folded his arms against his chest. “How do we know the king isn’t on his way now?”

Cameo gave a small smile at this. “Do you see any kind of camera on me? Do you see anything I could transfer data from?”

A quick look around forced the group to realize there was only one answer. They paused for a few moments. Then they slowly nodded their heads. This caused Cameo to narrow his eyes slowly and begin talking, not allowing any of them to interrupt him.

“I thought so. You are judging me because I am the brother of Kairos. I am not Kairos. Don’t treat me like him. I have no intention on fighting you. I think we can help each other out. If you are willing to give me a chance, I can offer you a solution to your dilemma. But you have to be willing to trust me.”

This was something they weren’t certain they could do. They were aware that he wasn’t Kairos, that he had his own personality. They just couldn’t help it. The familial connection caused them all to freeze. The chance of loyalty towards Kairos still possibly existed. How could they be sure that they could trust Cameo not to rat them out?

Perhaps...all they could do was take a blind leap of faith and consider trusting him. Cooperation would be best, and he did seem willing to talk. Perhaps they should take the risk. After all, if he were telling the truth, they could start to make some real progress with getting out of here.

But..what if he was lying? What if they would fall into his trap? Both routes were risky, though. It ultimately boiled down to which risk they want to take more.

Trust Cameo’s words, or risk losing any vital information they might have gotten out of him.

Whatever they decided, they needed to take cautionary steps. So much rode on what their decision was going to be. If they made the wrong one...

Snap decided to break the silence, knowing that, sooner or later, someone would have to come up with an answer. He decided to take the pressure of doing that. Besides, he knew what the others were thinking from the looks on their faces. They all agreed which answer appeared to be the best one to take.

“Okay then..” Snap’s voice was stern. He didn’t outright state it, but he made sure that his tone gave the strong implications that they will not tolerate any lying or attempts at deceit. “What can you tell us...?”

Cameo gave him a smile, and then opened his mouth to speak.

“Listen to this...”


	26. Blackout

"How can we be sure that we can trust you?" Snap asked.

"How do we know this isn't some kind of lie?" Inquired Penny.

All Cameo could do was shrug his shoulders. He tilted his head and gave him a strange smile. "Whether or not you trust me is up to you." He motioned his wing upwards. "But I did give you the information that you need. If you follow it, you should be fine.

Rudy raised an eyebrow. "Should be?"

"Look you four..." Cameo placed his metal feathers against himself. "I'm not so fond of this either. I might work here, but that doesn't mean that I know everything. I might have miscalculated and brought you deeper danger." He spread his wings outward. "But at least I'm trying!"

"Well...you haven't tried to torture us yet or throw us in a cage..." Snap admitted. He then quickly added, "But don't think we're letting you off the hook!"

Rudy nodded his head. He pointed his right hand towards the bird. "You're coming with us!"

Cameo chuckled at this. "As what? Your prisoner?"

It took only seconds for Rudy to respond. "Yes."

At this, everyone froze. Cameo stared at him with a wide-eyed, shocked expression, his beak partially open. Snap, Penny, and Barney all glanced at Rudy, unsure if they had heard things right. They exchanged nervous expressions as Rudy remained silent, each wondering just how to take this.

Rudy himself was shocked by his own words. He hadn't meant to say that. He felt taking prisoners was beneath him. He didn't want to act like the king who ran this place. He didn't want to act like the very enemies that had trapped them away from their friends and family. It just wasn't in his nature, or theirs. He didn't know if he could do something like this with a full conscience.

But they also had never been in a situation like this before. They never faced an enemy like this. He needed to learn that sometimes, hard choices had to be made. If he was going to save the rest of ChalkZone from the madness of King Zander, then he may have to make decisions he normally would never take.

He was going to feel like shit after this. Even after Cameo is released and everything was fine, he was going to have to forever live with the guilt that he had still had him captured and held prisoner. He didn't know if he could ever forgive himself.

Cameo stared at him long and hard, for a while, maintaining that shocked look. It wasn't until several moments later that his expression started to change. Slowly, his eyes narrowed and he exhaled slowly. The look in his eyes only made Rudy feel worse.

"I see... Is this how the Great Creator handles things on the surface?" Cameo looked at him with one eye. "Capture?"

Rudy shook his head. He tried his best to maintain his glare. But anyone who looked carefully could see the sorrow and regret in his eyes. "Extreme situations call for extreme solutions." He mumbled softly.

"Ah I see..." Cameo nodded his head once. He turned to the other three. "What do you think of this decision? Are you in full agreement?"

Rudy was not surprised when his friends hesitated to answer. They were fighting internally, struggling to find the right things to say. They clearly didn't want to betray him and yet they weren't sure if they could commit themselves to this decision.

Upon seeing this, Rudy made an internal wish that he would never have to make such a horrible decision again. This wasn't who he was, and he didn't want to change. Of course, wishing would not completely erase such possibilities and he knew that another decision like this might come faster than he thought. But..it still made him feel a little better.

"How about I make the decision for you?" Cameo said after the three weren't able to come up with an answer. They all looked at him. Cameo's shocked expression was gone, replaced with a small smile. "How about I just tag along with you? I will remain quiet and out of the way."

Snap cocked up an eyebrow. "How do we know you're not going to sound the alarm."

Cameo raised a wing up into the air. "My beak is sealed." With that, he pressed two metal feathers together and dragged a line from one end to the other, emphasizing his point.

Rudy still felt some hesitation, but he did feel a bit better about this scenario, of Cameo willingly coming with them. They could always keep him in the center of their group so he couldn't get away unless he flew, and they would easily see that. Plus, they had used up a lot of time already. They needed to get moving now.

"All right then..." Rudy said. He took a step towards the bird zoner and reached his hand out towards him. "Stay close to us and don't try to escape." He felt his heart clench as he said that. He bit his lip for a moment, and then said, "So...which way did you say we had to go?"

Cameo pointed a couple metal feathers in one direction, towards the stairs that he had initially come down on. "That would be your best bet. And remember..." He spread his wings out slightly, as if they were just hands. "If you pull the one I tell you to, you should be able to cause a blackout."

Rudy and the others nodded their heads as a way of showing that they understood. The bird had told them before about this idea. He explained how a blackout had never occurred here before because they were always so careful. In fact, they were lucky to be in a security blind spot as there were cameras hooked up everywhere. Cameo did say he could disable them remotely, but only in his sector.

The resulting blackout would cause a city-wide panic. During this time, they could take full advantage of it and find a way into the jail. The idea of making zoners scream and run off did twist their hearts and left them feeling at unease. But then they would remind themselves of what was at stake, and they all agreed, albeit reluctantly, it was for a good cause. Besides, it wasn't like they were going to hurt any of the zoners.

"Once you initiate the blackout, if you go down the correct corridor I tell you, you should be able to find a map where your tortoise friend is being held."

Barney widened his eyes slightly at this. He had told the bird zoner earlier about what happened to his old friend. Cameo did give him his sympathies, although whether or not it was genuine, Rudy and the others weren't able to tell.

A chance at saving his friend did seem to fill the insect zoner with some level of hope. He had felt continuously guilty for what happened to his friend, and now at last, he was getting a chance to make up for what he had kept seeing as 'his mistake'.

Rudy knew better. It wasn't his fault this happened. He and King Mumbo Jumbo wouldn't have hurt anyone. It was King Zander and Kairos that had done all of this. It was their fault they were trapped here and their fault that so many citizens were afraid of them. If they had just listened to reason from day one, all of this misunderstanding could have been cleared up.

He listened as Cameo continued.

"Once you find your friend, there's a specific path you follow. It's an old tunnel. Hardly ever been used. It should get you close to where your submarine is... If it's still there, that is. I cannot guarantee that you will find it in that exact location. I also cannot promise that nothing will get in your way when you go down. But..at least you will be closer to freedom than you ever been."

Despite any reservations they had, the group had to admit to themselves that the plan sounds fine. This was their best chance of getting out of this joint. They were struggling to figure out a plan themselves and here this guy was, giving them a full escape plan.

"I will have to leave you after you go in to get your friend, of course." Cameo placed a wing against himself. "I would love to accompany you, but that will be difficult. If I am seen assisting you, they may realize what I told you and try to stop you."

"So what are you going to do?" Barney asked, holding out his hand. "Return here and resume duty?"

Cameo shook his head. "I will report to King Zander." Upon seeing their horrified expressions, Cameo quickly added, "No, no. Not like that! I mean I will give him a false report and lead him in a different direction."

Rudy nodded his head slowly. "Okay... That sounds like a plan." He looked at the others. "What do you guys think?"

"It's better than nothing." Snap said, folding his arms. "I'm still not letting my guard down."

"Same here. I do agree this is the best plan we've had so far, but we should still err to the side of caution." Penny added.

Barney slammed a fist into his palm. "I say we get going, before we run out of time to even try this out!"

So it was decided then. Rudy made a swinging motion with his unbroken arm, signaling for them to start leaving now.

"Let's go."

sss

"He is what?!"

Kairos gulped at this. "Yes, sir. He's conspiring with them. I saw it with my own eyes. You saw it, too. I know you can see what I do."

"That little... He knows the consequences! Why would he take such a huge risk?"

Kairos would have told him it was likely out of jealousy and anger, as he had...kind of made sure that he got the job rather than him. It was so long ago, that he had nearly forgotten about it. Seeing him again reawakened those memories, and it was easy for him to put two and two together.

But...he could not say that to his king. If he found out that he had sabotaged something, he would deem him unfit to be his general. Then...if only being fired were the punishment. No, for deceiving him intentionally, he was going to be publicly executed. He rubbed his throat gingerly. He could not allow that to happen. He didn't care if someone else, even his own brother, was hanged. But it was an entirely different story if he were involved.

"I guess he d-d-doesn't respect y-you..." Not exactly a lie. It was true; Cameo never did like the king that much. The only reason he opted to be general was so that he could try to change things around here. "S-S-Sire...?"

King Zander was strangely quiet. At first, Kairos feared that he was seeing right through his lies. He tried not to let himself hyperventilate or show any signs of too much nervousness. It was one thing to act this way so that the king does not feel threatened. But if he overdid it, he risked looking, well, suspicious.

While he waited, he couldn't help but glare in the direction that his forsaken brother slinked off into. The idea of him conspiring with the creators made his blood boil. He had thought he put him in his place long ago. It would seem that Cameo needed another lesson. Just wait until he got his wings on him. He was going to...

"...where are they now...?"

The king's voice tore him from his thoughts. He turned his head down towards the walkie talkie that he held, the tip of his beak nearly pressing against it. It took him a second to register the question. He looked over at where he had seen his brother converse with the four fugitives. Then he turned his attention back towards the walkie talkie.

"They're h-h-heading into the p-p-power plant right n-now. I-I-I think th-th-they are trying to sh-shut off the power." Kairos said.

King Zander went silent. Then he spoke in a low voice. "...Shut down the power...?"

Kairos nodded his head. "You know wh-what m-means..."

The king remained silent. Kairos did not need him to speak up for him to know what he was thinking. They both knew what this meant. The panic that would ensue would make it a lot harder for them to catch them when it was time. Not to mention, a loss of power may cause some of their beasts to escape. The people would have less faith in their king of the king's 'pets' rampaged across town.

Kairos stared intently at his walkie-talkie. "What shall I do, sire?"

A moment of silence, then the king spoke. "Just keep an eye on them for now. Do not interfere."

Kairos widened his eyes at this. "Wh-What? Why not...?"

"Because...I think we can work this into our favor somehow." King Zander replied. "Do not ask me how. Just trust that I will be able to do this. You'll see."

Kairos nodded his head slowly. He tried his best not to doubt the king, even though he did think that this plan had gone in rather risky directions. It wasn't like his words were going to change his mind anyway. The best he could do was just keep going along with this and hope that, eventually, either he would stop this crazy plan, or everything would fall through like he said it would.

Kairos turned his attention again to where his brother had been. He was not there anymore, but he knew where he was. His body shook with adrenaline. He was so tempted to take action now. Only the word of the king prevented him from doing something, such as alert the other people here that they had intruders.

But...he needn't fret. Cameo would get exactly what he deserved sooner or later. He wasn't his biggest concern right now. There were more important things to worry about. Cameo will be dealt with when the time came.

Still, he didn't feel comfortable with just letting Cameo run off like this. His king only told him to follow and observe but...surely he didn't mean for him to just sit there when Cameo helped them cut off the power, right? Such a plan would be quite risky, and the king had plenty of that with his current plan. Surely, he wouldn't be so crazy as to let something like...

"Shall I stop them if they get close to shutting off the power?" Kairos asked. "They would be trapped. I can organize an ambush and..."

"No." King Zander said, causing Kairos's eyes to widen. "I have a much...better idea..."

sss

The interior of the power plant was huge. Much larger than any of them could have expected. The fact that it had a lot more levels instead of just the few above ground was only the tip of the ice berg.

Multiple catwalks were strewn about this place. Left and right and up and down they went. Multiple workers constantly walked through. There was hardly a moment when they weren't present somewhere on one of the catwalks. The building echoed with the chatter of the workers as they struggled to maintain power to this place.

Multiple machines and piles grew out of the ground, with additional pipes and thick black wires going along the floor and the ceiling. The whole place almost looked like it was in disrepair, but according to Cameo, this was actually a lot better than how it originally started. It was hard to believe his words with the clutter all around, the crowdedness, and the heavy smell of rust and metal all around them.

They heard constant thumps as heavy machinery kept turning and twisting and churning. They could also hear the beeps and whirs of machinery everywhere. Their heads were echoing with these sounds, making it feel as though someone was taking a jackhammer to their skulls.

Rudy was careful as he moved along the high catwalk. It was difficult keeping his body as low as the others with his broken arm. He almost felt like he was going to end up walking on all fours if this kept up. He could feel the muscles in his back ache, making him long to sit down. A deeper part of him just wanted to move faster, lest they get spotted.

Cameo did say that this catwalk was not in use that much. Out of all the catwalks, there were a handful that didn't get used often, and this was one of them. And thankfully, it was right at the top, so there was little worry about them getting spotted from up above.

But they still needed to be careful from down below. There were many zoners walking along, and all it would take is for one of them to catch just a glimpse of them and the alarm would be sounded. Cameo could get away by acting as if he captured them, which Rudy didn't doubt was part of his backup plan. But he and his friends? They would be recognized as the fugitives and captured.

The group continued to walk along the catwalk, following Cameo's silent directions. He stood in the middle of them, just as planned before. Even with his sharp-tipped talons, his footsteps were strangely muffled, as if he had to practice doing this for a long time. He would speak to them only in hushed voices, short phrases, and they largely consisted of directions and repeated 'keep down' comments.

They made painfully slow progress. It was growing rather tedious. In about five minutes, they only made about a minute's worth of progress. They had to move very slow and stop constantly to look around and make sure no one had noticed them. Annoying, but according to Cameo, if they wanted to reach the main switch that controlled the power, this was the only way to do it.

Penny had brought up the issue of them turning the power back on quickly. Cameo had a backup plan for that. He would simply tell them the problem was somewhere else. The zoners here would be so panicked and confused at the existence of a blackout, that they'd keep trying to find the problem in one area even if no such problem existed. Of course, they would eventually realize they had been tricked, so they still had to keep moving forward.

They kept on moving on. They tried their best to ignore the urge to run. As they told themselves over and over, it would be all fine in the end. They just had to keep concentrating on moving forward slowly, and eventually they would reach the main switch. Which, strangely, wasn't guarded.

This confused Rudy. Why would the main switch be unprotected? They had a lot of cameras in this place. Thankfully, none of them could see them moving on the catwalk, none of them were high enough, and the bars at the sides obscured them enough that anyone looking at the camera wouldn't really notice them. With all those cameras, Rudy would assume that the main switch was guarded.

Unless it wasn't a main switch, but a backup of some kind. This place seemed like it was the type that needed to run on backups. Perhaps that was why Cameo said he could get them to look somewhere else. The zoners might have forgotten about this switch and assume it was the main one.

He and the others felt guilty about shutting off the power. He couldn't imagine how many zoners they were going to hurt doing this. The ones in the hospital...the ones in need of machines...

The only thing that eased their inner turmoil somewhat was Cameo's promise that only the lights would be killed; the life support machines were apparently powered by another, more distributed source. That still did not kill all of their guilt in doing this.

They soon reached a turn, a crossroads of sorts. They had to turn either right or left now. Both of them lead to the same area. A tall structure, almost like an internal building. The lights and wires in a few places indicated this was not a building, but a power source. There were several openings to get inside, and, as Rudy would imagine, multiple staircases to get around in there. The path on the right led straight there while the one on the left looped around and stretched upwards to a higher level.

Cameo raised his head up a little. He looked left and right as he took in the sights around him. He then made a few quick gestures with his wing, indicating that they head down the left path, the one that twisted every which way.

Going up the path wasn't easy. There were plenty of slopes and dips and it was difficult maintaining their balance. Rudy could feel himself nearly lose his footing plenty of times. He had it worse than the others with his broken arm. He relied on the help of Penny to support himself so he didn't fall.

All the while, they still had to somehow prevent themselves from being spotted. The curves, up and down, made this difficult. Especially when they were at the top. Cameo commented this was designed to make it harder for anyone to go up there without getting spotted. Of course, this was a long time ago and most zoners had forgotten about this. Most just didn't want to bother traveling this way, so they left it alone, building another path in.

Rudy resisted the urge to sigh in relief when they made it to their destination. At this altitude, they were too high to spotted, even if they did stand up. He laid down and pressed himself against the wall, taking in a few heavy breaths. His friends did likewise. Penny and Snap rested against each other while Barney's legs splayed out at their sides. Only Cameo appeared unaffected by the walk.

"You're tired already?" Cameo's beak was ticked in an amused smile. "If you get tired that fast, I wonder why King Zander bothered bringing you down here. He could have just..." Upon seeing their glares, Cameo stopped himself. He turned his head away and rubbed the back of his head in a somewhat nervous fashion. "Well anyway..." He looked towards the door that wasn't far ahead. "This next part will be tricky. These doors can be really loud if you open up too quickly. You need to be very quiet."

"We've been doing a good enough job so far." Snap raised his hand up in gesture. "How hard would a few more minutes be?"

"More than you think, I'm afraid." Cameo tapped his metal feathers together. "You see, when the power is shut off, there will be a red alarm sounding off. The source of the sound will come up here." The others widened their eyes at this. Cameo nodded his head as he looked at them. "Yes, that means that not only will your ear drums be bursting and bleeding but..." He pointed downwards. "They will all be looking up. And we still need to go down that way to get out."

This made them look at one another in worry. How were they going to pull this off? Cameo didn't explain this little detail of the plan. They weren't sure if he had planned this or if this a case of him simply forgetting. Whatever the case, that still led to the same dilemma. How were they going to get out of here without getting spotted.

"There is a possible solution."

"Oh?" Penny asked, her voice laced in worry. "What do you propose."

Cameo's eyes half closed and he gave them a knowing smile. "We jump out the window up there."

"What?!" Rudy and Penny cried in unison, their bodies stiffened up.

Barney's antennas had unfurled for a second to express his surprise. "You're joking, right?"

Snap stared at him wide-eyed for a few moments before he managed to find his voice. "Are you insane?"

"Well I do suppose I am." The dark-colored bird tapped a metal feather against his bronze beak a few times. "That happens to ya when you live under a king like Zander." He held his wing up in a hand-like gesture. "Jumping is the only viable solution. We're in a dark spot on the other side, and the gate is right there. We will be able to make a run for it." He stopped himself. "Well you can make a run for it. I would need to go in a different direction to make it look convincing."

Snap narrowed his eyes slowly. "I do hope you're telling the truth. All of this rides on just how truthful you have been to us."

Cameo chuckled and turned his head to the side. "I know. Pretty scary isn't it?" He raised his wing up. "But...I'm the only choice you had, wasn't I...?"

The group didn't respond. As much as they would love to retort, they knew it wouldn't do them much good. They all knew that the dark bird was right; they really didn't have too much choice. They wouldn't have been able to capture him for long; Rudy realized there was a good chance that he could have shaken them off and sounded the alarm. Cooperation was the only thing that kept him from alerting the others to their presence.

That, and the bird's own internal desires. He had his own agenda. He was probably just as schemy as Kairos and King Zander. In a bizarre twist, it was this zoner's own desires of power that kept them alive.

There is a saying. You scratch my back and I scratch yours. Cameo was relying on them to help him secure his place in a higher level, and they had to rely on him for help in getting to their friend and being able to escape. With how far they had come, there was no going back now.

"Okay, we wasted enough time sitting around here." Cameo narrowed his eyes. "Are you ready?"

Rudy exchanged glances with his friends. They all told each other silent messages. Though the unspoken words varied, they all carried the same message. They were now mentally prepared to do what had to be done.

At their nods, Cameo gave a small smile. "Good. Now come along." Cameo stared at them, waiting for them to get up. When they did, he began to move forward. The others followed suit, again keeping him within their small ring. "As soon as we go inside, I will let you all study the map and then we shut down the power." He stopped and turned to them, mostly directing the statement towards Rudy. "Make sure only to pull the ones that I tell you. Get any others mixed up, and you could cause more damage."

"What is the worst case scenario...?" Barney asked, gulping.

Cameo looked at him in the eyes. "Explosions."

The group gasped in horror at this. They quickly nodded, all of them speaking at once, promising not to touch anything that was forbidden. Cameo, looking satisfied by their answers, merely nodded his head and moved his wing forward, prompting them to start walking.

sss

King Zander narrowed his eyes as he watched the screen. Being displayed before him were those fugitives and the little traitor. They were walking up the twisted cat walk, heading straight towards the door that he knew led to a back up control of this place's main power. He narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly what this was going to lead to.

The 'camera' was shaking a little. He knew that Kairos wanted to stop them. He might not have cared too much of others, but even he was cautious when there was a panic. People could get really crazy in such situations.

Especially one like this. In all the history of Chalklantis, of his rule, there had never been an incident where they lost power. In the beginning, they had been cautious and really monitored, but that had reduced a little and they began really relaxed. Many forgot what a power outage was, and it never crossed their minds. The resulting outage would paralyze many in fear, and if Kairos wasn't careful, he might get trampled.

Well at least he could take to the sky. So at least he won't lose his most loyal comrade. He doubted that he could ever replace Kairos. He had been quite the little helper.

His mind returned to the screen. So far, things had been going relatively well. He was still upset that his plan wasn't going exactly how he wanted it. But his modified plan seemed to be going off without a hitch... At least until they had run into Cameo. Now he had to make yet another adjustment in order to shift things in the direction that he desired.

But he was certain he could still pull it off. After all, he had been able to 'guide' the group with the pieces of magic chalk he so generously gave them via Kairos. And he got so much footage of it, too. Surely figuring out a solution to this wouldn't be problematic.

"Shall I move in, sire?"

King Zander looked down at the walkie talkie as he heard the voice of Kairos come through it. He looked at the screen as Kairos leveled his gaze where the door was. He had some ideas of how they would try to get out of there. But which way they went wasn't of his concern, for as he stared at the room, something else was crawling in the back of his head. He couldn't help but smile.

"...No. Let them turn off the power."

Kairos spluttered on the other end. "What? Are you sure?!"

King Zander nodded his head once, despite the fact that Kairos would not be able to see it. "I think we will benefit from a little alteration to the plan." King Zander couldn't help but chuckle. "It'll be risky, but not to worry. Everything will fall in line..."

Oh yes, if everything went according to plan..

Then it would just be a matter of time before his citizens agreed with his plans on going to the surface.

sss

Penny took a look around the room. It was not exactly what she expected. She would have thought an interior similar to what they were already in. But this place... It looked smoother and cleaner. The whole place looked as if it were carved out of stone, yet felt as smooth as silk.

This complimented its rounded appearance. The whole place looked like it was twisted, yet was not. The whole interior had lines of that glowstone stuff, which made it easy to see what was inside. There were multiple rounded, rectangular structures which had multiple buttons and levers and wires hooked up to them. It was quite something to see.

They walked into the room slowly, making sure that their footsteps weren't that heavy. Even though they were quite high up, there was still a chance that someone might hear them. Penny herself was constantly on the lookout for any potential danger.

Cameo had to tell them to stop before they went in too far. Apparently there was a small security measure up there. Lasers. How original. At least they were avoidable. It didn't take Cameo too long to disable them either. After that, and after they were certain no one else was here, it was smooth sailing. They kept on walking and took a moment to look around.

They were still surprised at how little there seemed to be in here compared to the outside. If anything, shouldn't this place be more wired? Well, Cameo did say that most of the wiring went straight down and spread throughout the lands that way, sort of like roots. That still didn't do much to quench their confusion and curiosity of the whole thing. Just how did the zoners here hope to repair anything if most of the wires weren't even exposed that easily? What did they plan on doing, having excavation into the ground just so they could fix a few wires? And how weren't the wires eroded by now? What were they made of?

Penny would love to find the answer to that. It could help zoners on the surface. She could only just imagine how much their lives would improve if some more durable wires were used.

But there was no time for that now. She was reminded of the task at hand when she stopped near a wall and saw something very familiar on it.

It was a map of Chalklantis. It looked similar to what they had found before, only this was clearly newer. Locations looked different, more similar to what they themselves had experienced. Not to mention there were no blanks on this map. This was the up to date map that they needed.

"Hey guys." Penny called out. "Come over here."

She could hear Rudy, Penny, and Barney coming over. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Cameo standing there, watching in observant silence. She raised her hand up and pointed at the map.

"This map is current." Penny turned to Barney. "Do you mind recording it in your database?"

Barney nodded his head. "Sure thing. It won't take long."

While Barney went to work on that, Penny returned her attention to the map.

"Hey, did you find the jail?" She heard Rudy ask.

She shook her head. "Not yet, I'm looking now."

"Well don't take too long." Snap said. "We don't have much time."

Penny was aware of that. She remained silent and focused on the map. Her eyes scanned around it. It was a little difficult reading this map, as it also included all kinds of pipelines and wires and generators and transformers, all that stuff. She had to try to look past that to see the land underneath it.

She was able to find where they were. There was a small blue dot placed right over the section that she recognized as the power plant that they were in. She hovered her finger over there and moved it along as she continued running her eyes all over the map, trying to find that one spot. Surely, a jail couldn't be this hard to find...

Apparently it was. She kept looking the map all over, and she started to get a headache as she was continuously unable to find anything that looked remotely like a jail. She bit her lip. How was it this hard to find an institution? Surely it would stand out and... Or maybe she was looking in the wrong place?

She tried again, this time clearing her mind of what she expected to see, and began to look in areas she did not expect to see a jail. She ignored what her mind said a jail was, and looked at all the shapes carefully, leaning closely and reading whatever she could. Unfortunately, most of this stuff she couldn't read, so she had to rely on the symbols given.

Soon, she found something. A symbol that appeared to be bars. The jail most likely. It was located very close to the palace. Her eyes widened at this. She turned to look at her friends. Their expressions told them they had seen it as well.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to be there..." Barney whispered softly. "How are we going to help my dear old friend if he's practically next door to that maniac...?"

"Ah, this could work in your favor." Cameo said as he raised up his wing. They all looked at him in confusion. "It's hard for me to explain right now. You will see what I mean when you get there." He moved with his wing. "Now hurry up and record that map so we can get going."

The group glared at him, but nonetheless did what they were told. Barney stared at the map for a few more moments to finish recording the data. He lit up one of his pods to make sure that it had successfully recorded.

The group then moved towards where Cameo was standing. They looked up and saw that it was a tall tower-like structure that twisted around near the top, almost like a unicorn. They could see two thick wire-like carvings in the side, which Penny guessed symbolized this was the main one. This was confirmed when Cameo stood next to it and placed his wing lightly over it, his metal tips lightly scraping it.

"Pull the red switch twice, and the blue switch once." Cameo said. "This will shut off the lights only."

The group looked at each other. Snap looked back and said, "Only the lights?"

Cameo nodded. "Anything else would cause too much panic. The lack of light is bad enough; most Chalklantians aren't used to it. The glowstone all around is always lit. Except for our own homes, we don't know much darkness."

"Wow... So the sudden introduction of a 'night' would..." Penny couldn't finish her sentence. She could only just imagine what kind of chaos that would bring. She looked at the others with a worried expression. Could they really still go through with this?

"Do not fret. Things will work out. That I promise you." Cameo smiled. It was hard to say if it was genuine, or if he was just trying to help them feel better so they would do as he said.

"Well we've come this far." Rudy held up his right hand. "I don't like the idea of doing this, but if it'll grant us a way to save King Mumbo Jumbo..."

"So long as we don't hurt any of the zoners doing this, I think I'll be able to manage." Penny looked over at the bird zoner expectantly.

Cameo nodded. "They will be unharmed. Panicked, but unharmed. Do not worry."

"All right then. Shall we do it?" Snap asked as he looked at the others. It was easy to see the mix of hesitation and determination in his eyes. "Are we going to save King Mumbo Jumbo and get out of this place?"

The answer to that was really easy. They all glanced at each other and, narrowing their eyes, they all gave a nod. No word was spoken. The gesture was good enough.

"Pull the levers exactly how I told you to, then make sure you go out that way." Cameo motioned towards what looked like a mix of a window and some kind of door. "That will lead you outside. Then head down the path I told you about. The one that..."

"Yes, I remember." Barney said, raising his finger up. "I made a note of it."

"Good, good." Cameo said. He pointed a metal feather towards them. "Now..pull those levers."

There was some hesitation. Penny and the others looked at one another. Who was the one who was going to do this? Who was going to pull the levers? None of them really wanted to, but...if they were ever going to escape, then one of them had to do it.

Eventually, Rudy appeared to decide he should do it. Penny could see the look in his eyes. It was clear that he felt as if he were betraying everything he stood for by doing this. Yet, he still worked up the courage to move himself towards the levers. He stood in front of them, biting his lip. He looked over at the others, exchanging looks with them. Then he looked over at Cameo.

Cameo said, "The red switch gets pulled twice. After that, pull the blue switch once."

"Got it." Rudy murmured.

Before he pulled it, he looked over at Penny. She looked at him sympathetically, then slowly nodded her head, wanting him to proceed and get this all over with. Rudy complied and he began to pull the levers. A few seconds later, darkness encroached rapidly, encasing them all in blackness.

It took only seconds for them to hear the screams of the panicking zoners.


	27. Invading The Prison

Panic had spread swiftly through the power plant. Many zoners of different shapes and sizes were running all around. Confused commands were given as they desperately tried to figure out what was going on. Most zoners were in such a panic, that any of the higher ups weren’t able to keep them calm.

Some zoners pushed against each other. Some fall down the steps. Some screamed in pain as they were trampled. Deep red lights of warning flashed constantly, which only added to their anxiety. The screams, many with different origins, seemed to intermix with the blaring, creating an echo of intense and confusing sound.

Among the crowd stood a white and yellow griffin. A glowing necklace was wrapped around her neck, complimenting the small glowing light that was at the end of her tail instead of the usual furry tuft. She stood on her stocky, muscular legs, her wings pressed against her side as she tried to resist her instinct to fly off. Her short, wickedly sharp beak regarding the crowd around her.

She had never seen anything quite like this before. She had never been in the middle of panicking zoners. The screams echoed in her head, and her visual cues were constantly filled with movement as zoners raced to find the problem or to simply escape.

Many weren’t lucky. She flinched over and over again as the sickening crunch of trampled zoners filled her ears, along with other zoners who fell or got pushed and shoved. It was hard to say at this point if any of them had actually died. But she could tell, from the volume of the cries, that many were hurt.

She let out a hiss. Of all the times for that lazy ass Cameo to disappear, this has to happen. Cameo was the one who was supposed to be in charge of that one sector, and in his absense, something had failed. It was his fault that this happened. When she gets her claws on him, she was going to...

No, she couldn’t let herself give into anger like this. With his absense, she was next in line to take command. These zoners were counting on her now to make things better. She needed to stop them from panicking so no more would get hurt.

She spread her wings and jumped into the air. She flew high up towards what looked to be a ledge of some kind. A tall pole with a flat surface at the top. It served no real purpose other than being decorative. But today, she was going to use it to draw attention from the other zoners. She pressed her claws against the metal disc as she rested herself on it. She unfurled her wings further, and her chest inflated, air sucking inside. Then she let out a screech, louder than even the blaring.

At this, the zoners froze. Some were standing, others on the ground, some hanging onto something, and still others looked like they were about to fight. All eyes turned to her.

The griffin froze for a few moments as she felt all eyes on her. A part of her was surprised that this even worked. She didn’t remain like this long. She kept her wings spread out, her long tail raised up behind her as she made herself look confident and regal. She began to speak to them in her loud, slightly shrill voice.

“Enough of your belly-achin’! We have work to do! Someone or somethin’ has messed with our power! We need to get our act together so we can find out who it was!”

The griffin took a moment to look at everyone in the room. So many faces.... And yet still some were missing. She tried to hold back her worried expression as she wondered where they could be. She hoped they would be okay.

Turning her head to one of the zoners, a centaur, she said, “Did you see anything suspicious?”

“No, Nitsa.” The centaur shook his head. “Nothing unusual here!”

Nitsa raised her head up, her eyes narrowing. Of course he would not have seen anything. Perhaps she should try someone else. She turned to a snake woman. “And you? Did you see anything?”

The snake woman shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing as far as I can tell. Everything was fine until...”

Nitsa waved her hand dismissively, a silent way of saying she has heard enough. She grumbled softly as she leaned back on the platform. She could not waste too much time thinking, yet she needed a bit of time to figure out what was going on.

She had a strong hunch that no one else here saw anything. She could see it in their eyes. They were just as confused and panicked as the next person. She had hoped one of them saw something so it would make the investigation easier. But life isn’t always so easy, she presumed. She might as well use what she had.

Nitsa raised up her paw and waved it once. “Okay then! The first thing we need to do is determine the location of this power outage! Determine who far the damage extends and locate its origin!”

As Nitsa began to organize groups to investigate this power outage, her mind was wandering all about. She hoped that this situation will get under control soon. She was already in trouble from the king; she did not want another reason for him to get mad at her. He was surely pissed about this power outage, and she was not going to let him catch her lazing around.

She momentarily thought if this was the work of those two creators the king brought in before. It was quite possible. Creators were dangerous and unpredictable. They might have cut off the power to get back at them. The thought made her grit her beak as her blood heated up.

She would not jump to conclusions just yet, however. Until they found proof of their involvement, she would not send anyone to pursue them.

sss

“Okay, you turned off the power. Now get going!”

Cameo watched as the human children and the two zoners made their way towards the window he had indicated. Or latch, whichever. It was hard to say what it was exactly, but it didn’t matter at this point.

As soon as they were gone, Cameo knew he could make his move. He needed to get out of here before anyone saw him fly out of this room. They might unintentionally connect him to the incident, and that would only ruin his plans. He had spent the past many, many minutes thinking hard on this plan and he was not about to botch it up.

He knew that this plan was risky. He knew using them to meet his ends might bite him in the ass soon, but right now, he didn’t care. At least he got closer than he ever did before.

Although he did not truly care about those four, although he saw them as nothing more than tools to reach his own personal goals, a part of him still wished them luck. Although this was more out of the fact that their prolonged safety worked further in his favor than anything. If they were caught too early, it may jeopardize his plans.

He was going to make sure that his ‘dear’ brother Kairos paid for what he had done. He would be sorry for how he had sabotaged him and ruined him, reducing his societal level down to mere worker while he rose up to the top.

It wasn’t like he even cared about the citizens, unlike him. True, he did not care about the creators or their two friends. But they were merely outsiders. As for his people, he did love them. Perhaps even more so than even the king himself. Cameo had some issues with the way things were run, and he had issues with King Zander. He wanted to change all of that.

He silently wished the outsiders good luck before he took off into the air. He dove down the same shute they did. But he did not go down as far as they; there was another passageway that was hard to see due to the light. He spread his wings and grabbed onto the darkness, soon hitting his metal feathers against something. He crawled through and went up this way.

This led him to the outside. He hovered high in the air, flapping his wings furiously. He looked down, and noted the fleeing dots that he knew where the four. He stared at them for a few moments and then turned his head in the direction of the palace. It was time that he fulfilled his part of the bargain.

“Let’s see how you like Kairos now, King Zander...” Cameo murmured under his breath as he took off in the direction of the palace.

He did not notice the bird-like shadowy figure looming not far from where he was.

sss

“The scoundrel i-i-is h-heading towards y-y-you, s-sire.” Kairos reported, his gleaming orange eyes not leaving his brother’s sights. Oh the things he could do to him right now...

“Let him go.” King Zander said, destroying any chance Kairos had at getting back at his brother. “I will deal with him when he gets here. As for you...” Kairos could have sworn he heard the king swipe his hand in the air. “You still have a mission to complete.”

Kairos grumbled. He would rather go after his brother. Cameo was more of a threat right now anyway. At least to him. The humans and their zoner comrades did not worry him all that much; no one here will believe them, especially after they see how they slaughtered a few zoners.

But Cameo? There were still many who liked him, and preferred him over him. He was certain that Cameo was up to something. The longer that he was allowed to walk, the more danger he himself was in. He had to do something about Cameo before he went too far. Before he had a chance to expose to the king what he did and...

“Do you understand me?!”

Kairos flinched at this. He placed one of his feet against his head and rubbed it. “Uh..y-y-yes...” He whimpered softly, feeling the aches of the sound rush through his head.”

“Good. Now get going.”

Kairos nodded. “Yes, sire...”

He resisted the urge to crumble the walkie talkie in his claws and drop it. He resisted the urge to snap at his king and tell him to hell with the plan; this was personal. That would only land him in hot water and allow his brother to win. He couldn’t even chase after Cameo; King Zander will find out. He can see what he does.

No, he best just follow through with the plan. King Zander did promise to take care of Cameo anyway. Although Kairos felt a pang of disappointment that he wouldn’t be involved, at least he could rest easy knowing that something would be done about him.

He turned his attention towards the power plant below him. Even from here, he could hear the screams and shouts of panicking zoners. Or at least, he had. It had gone strangely quiet.

He did not think any strange of it. He knew what had happened. One of the zoners inside, perhaps that white griffin, Nitsa, had regained control. She was probably going to have them investigate the power outage. The outage did not bother him as he had excellent night vision that let him see in the dark. For many other Chalklantian zoners, however, they weren’t so lucky. He chuckled softly to himself. Perhaps he would get to see some of that fun later.

But not now. He shook his head as he regained his senses. Right now, he had something more important to take care of first. He needed to initiate the next part of King Zanders plan. And oh boy, is it going to be quite the spectacle.

Without further hesitation, he dove down towards his target.

sss

Penny found it hard to push the echoes of the screams from her head. Even after they died down, they still surged through her head, echoing in her skull. She put a hand over her head and tried to block it out. She had just as little luck as before.

A rush of guilt rose inside of her. She could feel her stomach burn and churn. She licked her lips nervously as she tried to push back the urge to vomit. She paused and looked over her shoulder. She stared back at the building they had just been in.

How could they have agreed to this? How could they have gone this far? Despite Cameo’s assurances that everything would be fine, Penny could not shake off the guilt of what she and the others got involved in. Because of them, zoners were screaming and panicking, and she knew this was not the only spot where this was going on. She curled her fingers inward, pressing her nails against her palm. She wished there had been another way.

“Penny! Come on! We need to get going!” Rudy called out to her.

Penny looked towards her friends. They were all waited for her, standing near the gate. They had the gate only partially open, indicating that they had nearly crossed it without her. She was glad they had stopped for her.

She immediately rushed over to rejoin them. She didn’t bother saying out loud that she was sorry; her expression alone was enough for them to understand. They exchanged brief, sad-filled yet understanding looks. Penny could tell that this hurt them just as much as her. When they had arrived here, this was not what they wanted. All they wanted to do was explore and have fun...

Well life isn’t always fair, and that was something that they needed to understand. As harsh as it was, it was just a reality they had to accept. The important thing was getting out of here alive. As much as they would want to help, if it boiled down to them escaping alive or getting captured, they would opt to leave.

She and her friends immediately headed out. They went through the gate and kept going up ahead. After a while, they could see a trail that led upwards, similar to what Cameo had mentioned to them before. The path was rather rocky and yet had a path that seemed too perfect. As if someone took a large drill and carved it.

Going up the pathway wasn’t that easy. The ground was quite smooth. The wetness of it from...Penny wasn’t sure she wanted to know, caused it to be rather slick. It was difficult maintaining her footing on it. She tried to keep her balance, and while she did, it was a miracle in of itself not to fall. Don’t they ever dry this path up? Well, Cameo did mention that this path wasn’t used all that much, which was why he recommended it to them.

Her friends weren’t having as much luck. If they weren’t having trouble going up, they were having trouble with the edge. They were getting high up now and there were no rails to keep them safe. Nothing more than slight curves on either side. Penny clenched her teeth when she saw Barney attempt to flap his non-existent wings. Which failed of course. She wondered if Rudy could repair this with another piece of magic chalk.

They would have to worry about that later. They continued on up, moving as quickly as they could. They needed to get up there before someone from the power plant saw them.

It took them a while, but soon they approached what appeared to be a curve in the wall. An opening of a tunnel that took them deep inside. They picked up the pace, feeling their hearts pound in their chests. All the running around they did had them worn out and the lack of water was getting to them. By the time they moved inside the curved structure, they nearly collapsed.

The group kept walking up about ten feet before settling down. They pressed themselves against the curved walls and rested their legs. Their feet were burning from all the exertion of energy and the temptation of sleep was upon them. Yet they could not rest for long; they would need to start heading out soon.

They appreciated the rest, even if it was to be short. Their exhausted lungs were getting a well deserved rest, and holding still for a while seemed to make their dehydration not as bad. They licked their lips, wanting to quench their thirst so badly. Making them feel worse was the fact that they had no idea the last time they had anything to eat. It was very likely several hours had passed, but none of them had any measurement to find out.

Barney and Snap couldn’t even help here. While zoners had a stronger sense of what time it was, given that they had no rising or setting sun in ChalkZone, they weren’t one hundred percent perfect, and with all the running around surviving they had to do, they couldn’t exactly keep track of the time internally.

Penny felt her heart twist at the thought of her mother. She probably realized she was missing right now. She wondered what she was thinking right now. Just how much pain and worry had she caused her mother? If she had known something like this was going to happen.... She pushed aside her guilt. She couldn’t have known something like this would happen. None of them could have predicted this. That didn’t make it hurt any less.

“I wonder what our parents must be thinking now...” Penny whispered softly. The others turned to look at her. “They must be so worried.”

Rudy nodded his head slowly. “Yeah... I’m sure they called the police by now.”

The thought of that made Penny’s heart tighten. She wished she could go home right now and tell her mom it’s all right and that she’s so sorry. She wished she had been more careful to prevent this.

“You will get back to them.” Barney spoke up. His voice was slightly hesitant, as if he wasn’t entirely sure what to say. Rudy and Penny looked over at him. “They might be mad at you, but I’m sure they will be glad that you’re okay.”

Snap nodded in agreement. “They’re your parents. They wouldn’t stay mad forever.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just that...” Rudy sucked in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I lied to my parents.”

“And I lied to my mom.” Penny added.

“You guys do that all the time.” Snap started to say. He paused when he saw the looks in their eyes, and he remembered how different this situation was. “Yeah, I know... But... they will still be glad you’re safe. They might be angry at you, but in the end, the one thing that will matter the most to them is that you’re safe.” Snap motioned his hand towards them. “And I’m sure that you two would rather face your parents angry than never to see them again...”

This thought sent chills through Penny’s body. She and Rudy nodded their heads immediately. The idea of never seeing their family members again was horrifying.

“I thought so.” Snap said, nodding his head once.

Barney held out his hand in gesture. “We will get through this and everything will be straightened out. You will see.”

Rudy and Penny exchanged looks with each other. Slowly, they began to smile. Their friends were right. They would fix this. Even though they still felt the sting of guilt, they felt a newfound confidence. Everything would be worked out in the end.

And like Snap said, their parents would be angry but mostly happy that they were okay. She and Rudy would have a lot of explaining to do in the end, but she would prefer that over some horrible fate befalling on her and Rudy and their parents never finding out what had happened to them.

After a few more minutes of silence, it appeared that now was a good time as any to get moving. She would have rathered to get more rest, but now was not a good time. There was the chance that someone will come up this way. Regardless of what Cameo said, they could not stay in one spot for long. Not even here. Penny turned her head and looked at what was ahead of them.

For now, it was just an uphill climb. It wasn’t that far, though, and she could see it even itself out. The curves on the ceiling indicated there was a split up ahead. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to think of what Cameo had told them. They had to take one of these paths, but... which one was it? Her eyes widened slowly as she realized she could not really rememember. She turned back to her friends.

“Do any of you remember which way Cameo told us to go?” She asked.

At this, the others looked at her and each other in confusion. She could hear them mutter some words, which got intermixed together. After their brief conversation, they looked back at Penny and shrugged their shoulders.

“I...don’t know. Was it the left..?” Rudy looked up towards the slope.

“Or perhaps the right..?” Snap rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His eyes narrowed softly. “Well we need to choose a path soon.” He looked at Barney. “Do you recall?”

Barney tapped his finger against his chin. “I...I think he said to stick to the left... But I’m not sure.”

“Well that’s just great.” Snap raised his hands up into the air. “How are we going to know which way to go?”

Indeed, that was a good question. The dark bird zoner did tell them a path to take and of course, they forgot which way it was. So now they had a choice. Either they sit here for painstaking hours as they tried to remember the direction, or they just randomnly choose one and hope for the best. Either waste time but be more meticulous, or be faster but risk a greater chance of going the wrong way.

Penny narrowed her eyes softly, her teeth clenched behind her closed lips. Neither sounded like viable options. What they needed was to be swift yet stragetic. A way of getting to where they needed to go without increasing the odds of them getting recaptured.

Looking over at Barney, she believed she had thought of a good solution. She took a few steps towards him and motioned her hand out towards him to get his attention. When the centipede saw her, she asked, “Can you pull up that map again?”

“Sure, Penny. But why?” Barney asked.

“Just do it.” Penny said.

Barney narrowed his eyes but nonetheless complied. He shut his eyes as he pulled up the map of Chalklantis. Penny walked over towards him and stared intently at the map. She noted the mark that Barney put on there so they would remember where the jail was. And now the other mark changed to show their present location on the map. Penny put her finger against the screen and began to move it.

Barney chuckled. “That tickles...!”

Despite the centipede’s giggling, Penny continued to move her finger along the monitor as she studied it. She looked at the different paths that branched around here. After looking at it for a few moments, she pulled back. She ignored Barney’s sigh of relief as she addressed the others.

“Let’s head out now. We will take the path that leads directly overhead the city.”

Rudy took a step towards Penny. “Did you find it on the map?” Penny nodded his head. Rudy gave a small, relieved smile, and started to climb up his feet. Snap helped him up. “Thanks, Snap.”

“No problem, Bucko!” Snap said with a smile.

Despite their aching limbs and tiredness still having some hold over them, the group still began to move. They headed further up the pathway as they began their quest to get to the jail to rescue King Mumbo Jumbo.

sss

Snap could barely tear his eyes away from the scenery down below them. He pressed his face against the curved window, his eyes moving from one side to the other as he took in the beautiful, awe-inspiring sights all around him. For a moment, he had actually forgotten that they were in danger.

“Snap!” Barney hissed as he grabbed him by his arm. “Don’t get too close! You might draw attention!” He yanked the zoner back.

Snap grunted as he felt himself being pulled in a less than gentle way. He brushed himself off and shot a glare at the centipede. He immediately stopped when he saw that Rudy and Penny didn’t look too happy with him either. He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. They said not a word and started to walk on.

After taking the path that Penny believed to be the right one, they had traveled up a little higher and were presently inside a high tunnel. The same ones they had seen everywhere during their journey. The same ones that they had to hide from, and now they were traveling inside one.

This did make them all a little nervous. They had only two ways to go. Forward and back. If there were guards on both sides, then what chance did they stand of escape? Not much, in the end. They would be trapped.

The only consolence is that this particular tunnel didn’t seem used all that much. Penny made this deduction after they saw a few cobwebs and a lot of dirt and smudges on the wall. Penny believed that there was little reason for the Chalklantians not to clean the tunnels. Snap would have said that this didn’t prove anything, but there was little time for argument, as she made this deduction well after they began to travel in here.

Despite the lights being out, there were still some fears regarding being too close to the window. Especially considering the tunnel itself was light. It was likely due to another backup power somewhere. They stood out even more here. It was of little surprise that Barney was so antsy about him being so close.

Despite that, Snap couldn’t help but look out the next window as they began to pass by it. He looked down, seeing the landscape down below. Even in the darkness, he could still see enough detail to recognize the landscapes. Light from outside shined in, providing some tiny illuminations. Enough for them to recognize some details. He could see a portion of an area they had been in earlier. One of the forests in the distance, and the mountainous region where they had to fight that plant monster. And even further down, just quite barely, they could see the Shadow Forest, and a small, tiny ridge where the colloseum was.

The sight of it made him shiver. Memories rushed through his body. Almost nostalgic, yet a more twisted version of it. When he closed his eyes, it still felt like they were there, running for their lives as some large beast came after them. He shook his head, trying to push those horrible thoughts away.

Snap turned his head away from the window. He had enough sight seeing. He sped up and joined his friends as they continued to move along the tunnel.

He wasn’t sure how long they had been walking. He wasn’t sure the last time anyone spoke. They were all focused on just getting out of here. The faster they reached the edge of the tunnel, wherever it may lead, the faster they could start to really plan for King Mumbo Jumbo’s rescue. The map did help things a lot, but they needed a visual to see just how bad it really was over there. Otherwise, they may plan for the wrong thing.

Snap thought back to what Cameo said before. Something about how going toward the palace might work in their favor. He still wondered what he meant by that. The others had no idea, and were just as curious and clueless as he was. Was there something about this that Cameo knew that he did not bother to tell them?

He and the others wished that bird zoner had been more specific. There had to be a reason he said that, and the fact that he didn’t divulge the information irritated him. He knew the others were just as frustrated. He hoped that this guy knew what he was talking about. If he had led them astray...

Suddenly they all stopped. Snap nearly collided with Rudy. He looked at his friends in confusion. He rubbed the top of his head in perplexion. Just what did they stop for?

He pushed himself through, squeezing past his friends. There was so little room in the tunnel, so little way to manuever. It took him forever in order to get any kind of view of what they were seeing. And when he finally did, he froze, staring out as his eyes slowly widened.

They were located high above the city. The tunnel had emptied out now. There were no other paths to go on. Getting down was going to be really difficult. No ladder, no stairs, nothing.

But that’s not what got their attention. No, what really had their hair ruffled was what they saw in the distance.

They were back at the palace. There, in plain sight, was that palace. The one run by that horrible king...

They all froze at the sight of it. Their blood chilled and their skin crawled. Each of them recalled what King Zander had done, how he had tricked them into coming into his kingdom, separating them from their friends, how he had captured poor King Mumbo Jumbo and blackmailed Barney, how they had been fighting for their lives because of him. They had never wanted to be here again, and yet here they stood, in plain sight of it.

Snap turned his head and noticed the building not far from it. They hadn’t seen it before as it was right behind the building. Kairos had taken them in a certain direction as to not see it, as if he and King Zander wanted it to be kept secret.

It was the jail.

“Guys...look...” Snap motioned his hand towards it.

The others immediately turned their heads, and they immediately saw what Snap had indicated.

“The jail...” Rudy whispered softly.

“The one where my friend is at...” Barney stared at the jail longingly. Penny had to grab onto his arm to stop him from trying to bolt out towards the jail in a desperate attempt to save his tortoise friend.

Snap found it hard to tear his eyes away from the jail. Even from this distance, he could tell it was not going to be easy. More of those boar guards were present, holding tall shock sticks similiar to what was used on that weird-looking beast before. The hippalectryon or something. The guards were everywhere, often in pairs of two or three at various locations.

Snap licked his lips nervously and turned his head towards Penny. “So..how are we going to do this...?

sss

King Mumbo Jumbo tried his best not to smile as he watched the zoners dashing all around. It had mostly settled down since a few minutes ago, but he still enjoyed the occasional bit of chaos.

He was not normally like this. If he were in his normal state, he would be horrified. This was a similar panic as when the balloonemia epidemic first struck ChalkZone so long ago.

But today wasn’t a normal day.

He didn’t recall how long he had been trapped in this hellhole of a prison. He didn’t know how many days had passed. It wasn’t like any of the guards were going to tell him. They would most likely just strike him and tell him to shut up. He gritted his beak at the memories. And to think this all started just because he and Barney wanted a vacation...

Some vacation this turned out to be. They had been trapped here for long. Well..he had anyway. He was not sure of the status of his friend. The Chalklantian guards would not tell him. He overheard one of them talk about destroying his friend. Though this horrified him, he quickly reminded himself of how much these guys lie. They were probably just trying to get him on edge.

He peered closely between the electrified bars that kept him in. He looked left and right as he watched the zoners flee. The same ones who had previously mocked him and laughed at any point he looked like he was losing hope. Now it was their turn to feel the panic. He couldn’t help but smile. It was such poetic justice.

He wondered if he could use this opportunity to escape. There was so much chaos going on. He might be able to do something while they were all distracted and get out.

No, that would not be possible. He could never break through these bars, and the walls behind him were too thick. He might be strong, but he wasn’t that strong. His best bet was to wait and see if one of the guards slips up and does something to make the cage doors open.

He wasn’t the only one in here. During his many-day stay, he could hear other zoners moaning and groaning and complaining, whatever. All of them had done something to cross the king, and most chilling of all: most of them were surface dwellers who had been trapped here for hundreds...countless years.

The fact that most of these zoners were outsides confirmed the tortoise’s assumption that King Zander simply does not take kindly to zoners from the surface. Xenophobia and all that. This made him realize that he and Barney were doomed from the start. Even if they had done what the king wanted, they still would have been locked up.

King Mumbo Jumbo briefly mused at one point that his status as king was what partially caused his own imprisonment. Perhaps King Zander had a delusion that if he held him prisoner, everything would fall in place. He might be king of the jungle, but he was not king of all the top side. King Zander would not get what he wanted this way.

...what did he want, anyway? The details were quite fuzzy. He thought he heard something about going to the surface, but for what, he wasn’t sure. Destruction? Conquest? He wished he knew, or had some kind of idea.

And just what had happened to his friend? Where was he taken? The only thing he can remember was something about Barney needing to tell the king something and...that was it. He could hardly remember much else, because he didn’t see much else. He had been locked up in here suddenly, and his friend was being tormented elsewhere. The thought of not being able to help him made his heart clench. He formed a fist with his hand. He would find a way to get to Barney and leave this wretched place, one way or another.

He heard a thud and turned his head to see what it was. He noticed one of the boar guards being held by another. The first one had a panic-ridden expression while the other was glaring at him and telling him to settle down. King Mumbo Jumbo looked away. It wasn’t any of his business.

That is, until they started to speak.

“Get a hold of yourself! The king needs our help! Those fugitives are on their way here!”

The first guard spluttered. “H-Here...?” He fumbled his fingers nervously. “I-I’m not r-r-ready for that...”

The second guard smacked him on the head. “Get a hold of yourself, soldier! You were trained for such an emergency!”

“I-I’m not sure I...” The first guard stumbled.

“Now you listen here!” The second guard grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. “Rudy and his ilk are coming this way and they were going to destroy everything we hold dear! Are you going to just stand by and let them do it?!”

King Mumbo Jumbo’s eyes widened at this. He found himself staring at the guards. They continued to bicker back and forth, with the first guard remaining nervous and fearful while the second was clearly determined to do his job and wanting him to do the same.

He could hardly hear their words, despite looking directly at them. Their words seemed more distant and echoey. His own mind was crowded with many pounding thoughts, spinning and twisting and turning. He took a few shaky breaths as his mind pieced together what this meant.

Rudy, Penny, and Snap were here? What happened? Did they get captured? What did King Zander want them for? He realized that it must have something to do with Rudy and Penny being creators. But how would King Zander know that..?

...unless Barney told him...

King Mumbo Jumbo felt the back of his mind flash in realization. Was this what that fiend wanted the centipede for? Was he planning on forcing Barney to relinquish enough information about those three so they could be captured? The thought of it heated his blood. The boy was responsible for saving ChalkZone, but he knew that would not matter to someone like King Zander.

Exactly what King Zander planned on Rudy and his friends, the tortoise couldn’t tell. But there was one thing that he knew for certain.

He needed to stop him. Somehow.

sss

Penny stared at the jail intently, her eyes scanning around it constantly as she tried to think of how they were going to do this. The guards looked surprisingly calm at first. He guessed they were the hardiest ones, giving the illusion of full control so no one on the outside would think something was happening. Clever.

That meant that the guards on the inside won’t be as strong, neither physical nor mental, if her theory proved to be right. That didn’t mean they would have it easy; they would still be dangerous and they needed to take extra caution when going in.

The question was...where would they go? With all those guards around, it would be near impossible to sneak in. One of the guards would notice them there and sound the alarm. Even if they miraculously got around them, there was still the fact that they had no way of getting inside. They didn’t have any magic chalk and there was little reason to assume they would get another piece anytime soon. They would need to figure out a way on their own.

She looked back at the others. They were staring at her. It was clear they were relying on her for this. They had that expression in their eyes that told her how much they trusted and believed in her, but also how worried they were about everything. She could only return the expression, echoing what they were all thinking.

They still didn’t even know if King Mumbo Jumbo was still alive in there or not. They might end up risking so much only to find out they were way too late to do anything. The thought made her heart clench, but there was one positive side to that: at least they would finally know.

She turned her attention back to the guards, again scanning the area. There had to be something they were missing. Perhaps there was another way inside and...

Her eyes widened. Yes, there was a way. But...it wasn’t the most flattering way. The thought disgusted her. Yet if they wanted to help King Mumbo Jumbo, it might be their only bet. There was no other way she could think of. After all, what kind of king would place guards in...that location?

Sucking in a deep breath, she turned her head to her friends. She prepared herself to explain to them the idea she had. She tried her best not to wretch as she spoke about it.

“There is a way we can try. It’s..not the cleanest method, but...”

Barney instantly paled at this. “Oh dear...y-you’re not suggesting that we...” Penny simply stared at him, doing nothing to indicate it was a misunderstanding. Barney put his hand to his mouth. “Oh dear...”

Rudy and Snap quickly got the message as well. They stared at Penny with a disbelieving look. They turned to each other, each giving their own expressions of disgust, rubbing their throats.

“I’m sorry, but there isn’t much of another way.” Penny said. She shuddered at the thought of going through a place like that. The smell was bad enough, but the touching... “It’s either that, go through there where we won’t run into much resistance, or we risk going in head long and getting recaptured. What do you three suggest we do?”

There was a moment of silence. She watched as her friends looked at one another, murmuring to each other regarding the sadistic choice they had to make. What they did next all boiled down to what they were willing to do more: risk getting caught or going through that disgusting place.

After a while, Rudy turned his head and looked over at Penny. He paused for a moment, biting his lip. Then he said, “And you are sure there’s no other way? Nothing that...”

“If I knew another way, I would have suggested it.” Penny gritted her teeth, looking away. “I don’t like it either. But... It’s either that or...”

“Or my friend will never get rescued... He might even get hurt...” Barney said softly, his eyes downcast. His body shuddered at the thought of what might be happening to his dear friend. “We have to help him...”

“The idea of going through that place is so..disgusting. I can’t believe that you even suggested it, Penny.” Snap shot a glare at Penny. This didn’t last long as he realized there was indeed no choice. “But..if we have to do it in order to save him, then...I’m in.”

“Yeah. Saving King Mumbo Jumbo is more important than our own personal disgust.” Rudy said, giving Penny a knowing expression. “I think we all know what we have to do now.”

Penny nodded numbly. She looked at them all. Their expressions told her that they were all in agreement now, even if it was reluctant. She turned her head towards the jail. She narrowed her eyes.

“Okay, here’s what we need to do...”

sss

“Ew! Yuck! Gross! This is so disgusting!” Snap shuddered to himself as they moved out of the smelly pipe. He rushed to the side a couple of feet before stopping and desperately trying to get himself cleaned up. “Get it off of me! Get it off!”

“Snap!” Barney hissed at him. “You’re going to give us all away! Be quiet!”

“Yeah! You want to draw every guard here?!” Penny growled in a low voice. “Keep it down!”

Snap tried to stop himself. He tried to make himself stop crying out in disgust and running around. It was just so hard, though. How could he remain calm with this...this stuff on him? He couldn’t even say the word. All he could do was flail his hands and try in vain to get it off of him. How were the other ones so calm?

After a couple seconds, Penny had to intervene. She walked over towards him and grabbed onto his cape. She yanked him back, causing him to gag. She glared at him in the eyes and pressed a finger against her lips. She shushed him sternly, which caused Snap to finally zip his lip.

That did not stop his temptation to throw up, and he still moved his hands about as he tried to find a way to clean himself off. Penny groaned and tore off a piece of her skirt. She wiped off the stuff and dropped it near the pipe’s opening that they came out of.

“We do need to get this stuff off.” Rudy commented. He looked at his arm. “We will certainly draw attention with them.”

Penny looked at him. “We don’t have much of a choice. We have to keep moving.” She furrowed her eyes with concern, obviously knowing that they will indeed draw attention if they smelled like this. “We will have to make due.”

Barney fumbled his fingers nervously. “I don’t think that’s very wise. We need...someway to get this smell off of us. Unless you want to attract every guard here...” Penny looked over at him. Barney raised his hands up. “I’m just saying! The smell would attract more people faster than Snap would have with his constant yelling and...”

“All right! I get it!” Penny said quickly. She took in a few breaths. “Just give me a few moments.”

The spot they had come in was the bathroom. Several stalls of toilets were lined up at one side, and sinks on the other. So far, no one had bothered coming in here. They could see no one. For now, they were safe and sound.

But they would not be for long. The guards might have wills of steel, but they would all eventually have to answer the call of the wild. And when they come in here, they are going to notice them very quickly. They needed to figure out something before...

Snap turned his attention to the sinks. His eyes locked onto them as an idea spread throughout his skull. He felt like an idiot. Why didn’t he think of this before?

He made his way towards one of the sinks. He grabbed some soap, a few paper towels, and turned the faucet on. He placed the paper towel underneath it to wet it.

“Snap? What are you doing?” Penny stared over at the zoner. Her teeth were gritted as she constantly looked over to see if anyone was coming. “Now’s not the time for...”

“I’m cleaning myself up.” Snap held the went paper towels, which now had some soap on them. “This will work better at getting smell off.”

Penny stared at him in surprise, her eyes registering realization. “Oh...” She rubbed her head, looking embarrassed. “Well that is clever.”

Silently, everyone moved towards the sinks. They repeated what Snap did, and once they had their wet paper towels covered in soap, they started to wash themselves. Some places were more difficult to clean, especially on their clothing. They continued to scrub the best they could and tossed all of the paper towels in the garbage.

By the time they were finished, most of the smell was off of them. Snap took in a deep breath and he exhaled with relief when he smiled lilac soap instead of..that stuff. Now that they no longer smelled like freaks, they could get a move on.

But as they moved out of the bathroom and peered out, they saw it was not going to be that easy. There were a few guards in the hallway. They weren’t looking in this direction, but if they headed out, they would certainly attract attention. They needed to figure a way around them. But...how were they going to do this?

They all took a few moments to look from one side to the other to completely understand what kind of situation they were in. What could be figured out very quickly was that they weren’t going to be able to just waltz out. Someone would see them. If they had another way, they might be able to sneak past them.

“Hey...” Rudy spoke up. The others stared at him. “Maybe we could go up there?” He pointed his hand up towards a ventilation shaft. “Maybe we can fit in there.”

“That might work, but..Rudy...” Penny eyed his broken left arm nervously. “What about your arm...?”

Rudy glanced down at it. He placed his hand on it gently. He gritted his teeth. “I will just have to deal with it. I’ll be fine.”

Penny didn’t look like she believed him. “I don’t want you getting more hurt.”

“I won’t. And we don’t have much of a choice. I’m not going through there again.” He motioned his hand towards the pipe. “And we can’t go out that way.” He jabbed his thumb behind him. “So our best bet now is up.” He pointed at the vent again.

Barney looked up at the ventilation shaft. “It does look crowded..” He lowered his head and turned to them, letting out a sigh. “But I have to agree with Rudy on this. It might be our only chance.”

“Besides, it will be much better than..that place...” Snap shivered once.

Penny, realizing she was outvoted, sighed, making no attempt to fight it. She probably couldn’t think of any alternative herself. “All right then.” She looked up at the ventilation shaft. She turned to Barney. “Do you think you can reach that?”

Barney nodded. “I can try.”

Barney attempted to rise himself up like he had when his predatory instincts kicked in. He pushed himself up as high as she could go. But he could not reach it. Snap was about to volunteer to help when he saw Barney walk towards one of the walls. Snap wanted to slap himself in the fact for forgetting that Barney could walk up walls.

It didn’t take Barney long to reach it. He grabbed onto the lid and yanked it down. He held onto the barred lid and let his arm dangle, his fingers still curled around it. Penny and Snap walked underneath and gestured with their hands. The insect zoner released it, allowing it to drop. Penny and Snap worked together to catch it and set it down.

Barney then lowered himself so that part of his body dangled over the edge. He held onto the pipe tightly. They flinched when his fingernails scraped along the metal. “Climb up! I don’t know how long I can stay like this!”

One by one, they all began to climb up the centipede.

sss

King Mumbo Jumbo glared at the bars in front of them. If only they weren’t electrified, he’d be able to sneak out of here. If he dare attempt to touch them now, he would electrocute himself. Then what use was he going to be when he went to try to help Rudy and his friends?

But he couldn’t give up now. There had to be something, anything, he could do. He paced back and forth, his arms folded behind him. He constantly looked at the electrified bars with a grim, angered glare.

His pacing got the attention of the guards standing around. He could hear one of them pound on the wall next to his cell. He was startled, but only took a step back before regaining his senses and glaring in the direction of the guard. The boar’s features were contorted in contempt.

“Stop making such racket, you filthy surface dweller!”

King Mumbo Jumbo growled at him, but made no attempt to retort. There was no use with arguing with someone like him. He pressed his back against the wall and folded his arms against his chest.

The guard snorted. “That is much better. Keep it like that...” He turned and walked back to his post.

The tortise snarled at this, but remained quiet. He shook his foot in the air as he continued to think about what he could do now. He looked around in his cell. There was not much here that he could use. None of the prisoners were really given much except the barebones that they needed to live. A bit of water, food, and a thrown together place to sleep.

His eyes locked onto the water. They widened. Wait.. Maybe he could... He looked from the water dish towards the bars. His mind’s gears began to churn rapidly as a plan started to formulate.

It was risky. It might not work and he would only land himself into deeper hot water. He might get himself punished. But if there was a slight chance that it was going to work... He had to take it. It was the only thing he could think of. Once the bars were weakened, he could use his brute strength to break down the bars and make a run for it. He’d fight his way out of this jail if he had to.

He picked up the water dish and carried it over. He stepped lightly, making sure that his footsteps did not attract the guards again. He looked at the bowl, then at the electrified bars. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Here goes nothing. He pulled his arms back and, with a single thrust, lurched his arms foward.

The resulting force caused the water to shoot from the bowl. He watched in great anticipation as it flew through the air. He could feel his heart pounding as he waited to see what was going to happen. In a matter of seconds, the water hit against the bars.

There was an instant reaction. Sparks flew, smoke pillowed out, dark-colored, and he had to turn his head away and raise his arm up to cover his face as there was a small explosion that shot out black stuff and sparks everywhere. It was similar to what he could expect when an electronic would fry.

“What the hell was that?!”

“What the fuck did that stupid land lover do?!”

King Mumbo Jumbo did not give them much time to say anything else. After a brief preparation period, he immediately charged towards the bars. He turned himself to the side and slammed his shoulder against the blackened bars. There was a brief sting of pain and then a crack. The bars gave way under his weight and strength, and he found himself nearly tripping over as the bars fell down.

The guards around him stood there in shock, staring at him with open mouths. They didn’t remain like this for long and they immediately began to rush towards him. King Mumbo Jumbo gritted his beak and hunched himself, preparing for a fight.

sss

Cameo stood in front of the palace doors. He glared softly, taking in a deep breath. He mentally prepared himself for this moment. Confronting the king so suddenly could have its own dire consequences. But he had little reason to think that the king won’t see him if he had something important to tell him. And this would most certainly be important to him.

He didn’t see any guards in the front. He found this to be strange, but not overtly so. King Zander might have had them reassigned to finding the fugitives. He chuckled once to himself. He would wish them best of luck, but he wasn’t sure which one needed it more.

Not that it mattered. So long as his needs were met, so long as he could start changing this place for the better, then that was all that really mattered. The humans and their friends surviving was just mere convenience, but not necessary to secure his place here.

He moved into the palace slowly, taking his time. He kept looking around for any sign of guards. Still nothing. He shrugged his shoulders. He guessed the dear king was so focused on recapturing those four that he did not pay much attention to his own needs. The fool. Oh well. That will just make it easier for him to challenge him. He could use this to his advantage and instead of just coming to tell him of what happened, maybe he could overthrow him. He could just come up with an elaborate lie and...

His thoughts stopped when he saw the throne room up ahead. He narrowed his eyes, many thoughts running through his mind. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Without hesitating further, he began to walk forward slowly, his eyes staring intently at those open doors.

He soon reached them and he stopped in front of them. He peaked inside. He was relieved to see that the king was still in there. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. He attempted to make himself look as worried and concerned as he could. He had to make this look convincing. Then he began to walk into the throne room.

“E-E-Excuse me, s-s-sire.. So sorry to d-disturb you.” Cameo adopted a submissive stance, rubbing his wing tips together nervously. “I-I-I-I just have s-s-s-something important to...”

He watched as the king turned his head towards him. He paused when he saw those piercing dark brown eyes bore through his own. He tried to continue speaking, but no words would come out of his mouth.

“Something...important...?” King Zander said slowly. A small smile spread across his lips. “Would that, by any chance, happen to be what happened at the power plant...?”

Cameo’s eyes bulged and he felt his heart skip a beat. Even in the darkened room, the king’s eyes almost seemed to glow. He took a step back, his mind racing. “H-How did you...?”

“How I did is not of your concern.” King Zander got up from his throne. He began to walk slowly towards him. His head lowered and his eyes narrowed. In the dark, he somehow looked more terrifying. “Do you mind explaining to me... just what you were doing there with the fugitives..?”

Cameo’s mind sped up. How did the king know about this? How could he have found out? He took a few more steps back. His confident front quickly shattered. If the king knew...there was no use in trying to stay and reason with him. Now was a good time to make a retreat and...

His heart skipped a beat when he felt some large, strong hands grab a hold of him. He looked left and right and saw that two of the boar guards had came up to him and grabbed him. Where were they? He didn’t see them earlier. He looked back at the king, watching as he continued to approach him. He started to struggle frantically.

“How quickly you crumble down....” King Zander muttered. There was a level of disgust in his voice. Cameo could only watch in horror as the king stood in front of him. The smile stretched further, but there was hardly anything genuine about it. “So...tell me... Why did you betray me?”

Cameo couldn’t reply. He kept his beak sealed shut. How was he going to tell the king about his plans? How was he going to react? No, it was best to keep quiet.

King Zander did not take kindly to his silence. The smile quickly faded away as a snarl formed across his face. Cameo gulped and lowered his head. Again he did not speak, which only served to upset King Zander even further. “I don’t know why you’re resisting. It’s not like you have anywhere to go. We have plenty of time to speak.” He raised his hoof hand up in gesture. “I know you must have some feelings harbored against me if you think it was a good idea to...betray me.”

Cameo gulped when he saw him form a fist with his hand. He turned his head away as he thought he was going to be struck. When he wasn’t, he looked back at the king cautiously. “Wh-What are you going to do...?”

King Zander’s eyes twinkled. “For now, nothing. You will be locked up for treason. Do not worry. I will come and visit you and you can explain your actions to me.” His eyes narrowed. “I hope you have a good reason for what you have done...”

Cameo pulled his head back, his eyes widening in horror. “I-I...”

King Zander snapped his hoof fingers once. “Take him away.”

Cameo was unable to fight when he felt himself being dragged away by the boar guards.

sss

King Mumbo Jumbo kept running down the hallways. He didn’t care that there was limited light here. He didn’t care that he may have to fight more guards. He’d fight a thousand of them if he had to.

The guards here were pitifully easy to beat once he knocked their weapons from their hands. His hard shell offered immense protection from their attacks. All he had to do was ram them and the resulting force either incapacitated them or knocked them out.

He did eventually lose them and he continued down this hallway. He didn’t now where he was going. But so long as he found a way out of this awful place, he didn’t really care. He ignored any feelings of dread he had, any shouts he heard, and tried to keep his mind as clear as possible. He needed to focus on getting out of here and finding his friend and those creators.

He wondered where they could be. He hoped they hadn’t been captured. No, they weren’t. They were hiding somewhere. He just needed to find them. He had to find some way to keep himself hidden and find the others. It would take a while he was sure, but so long as he kept on looking, he may find something that would lead him to them.

Suddenly, a scraping sound caught his attention. He froze, a chill running through his body. He looked left and right. He raised a fist in the air as he prepared himself for a fight. He took a few steps forward, swinging his gaze around. He didn’t see anything. Another scrape caused him to tilt his head upwards.

The ventilation pipes above him... They were moving slightly. He narrowed his eyes and took a step back, focusing on those pipes entirely. Something was up there... Well if they were itching for a fight, he would not disappoint them. He took a fighting stance and prepared himself.

Suddenly the opening gave way. The barred lid fell down and clanged against the ground. Then something fell out of the ventilation system. It landed in front of him. In a blind rage, King Mumbo Jumbo grabbed the fiend by his neck and pressed him against the wall.

“Listen here! You are going to....” King Mumbo Jumbo froze, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open. “B-Barney...?”

Barney smiled at him. “Hello, dear friend...”

King Mumbo Jumbo immediately released his friend, putting his hands over his mouth. Oh no...he had almost just... His friend...

So many thoughts ran through his mind. He wanted so much to say something. He wanted to ask his friend how he was, and how he got here. He wanted to ask so many questions, yet his mind was too crowded and stunned. Eventually he just reached over and pulled his friend in a hug.

“Oh Barney...” King Mumbo Jumbo whispered. “I-I thought that...”

Barney put his arms around him. “It’s great to see you too, old buddy.”

“I hate to break up this reunion...” Snap’s voice came, accompanied by a thud. “But we have to get going.”

A few more thuds, and when King Mumbo Jumbo lifted his head up, he saw that Rudy and Penny now had arrived.

Rudy nodded in agreement. “We have to get out of here quickly before they find us.”

“You can finish your reunion later.” Penny motioned with her hand as her eyes turned up towards the ventilation shaft above her.

King Mumbo Jumbo felt some annoyance at having to leave so fast. He wanted to spend more time with his friend. He hadn’t seen him in so long, unsure if he was even alive, let alone hurt. But his rational side knew that they were right. If they stayed here much longer, they would get caught.

He took a few steps forward and looked up at the ventilation shaft. “Is that how you came in?”

“Well that and...” Barney paused, rubbing his hands together. “You don’t want to know.”

The tortoise stared at him in confusion. “What...?”

“Trust me...” Snap moved his hands in front of him while Rudy and Penny both looked physically nauseated. “Some things are better left unsaid.”

King Mumbo Jumbo stared at them in confusion. He wanted to ask them what had them freaked out, but now wasn’t the time for that. Besides, he thought he might have some idea of just what they were alluding to. He detected a pretty faint but smelly odor coming from his friend. Indeed some things were better left unsaid.

Before anyone could react, there was a loud beeping sound. He put his hands to his ear holes and tried to block out some of the sound. The others did likewise, teeth bared as they tried to cope with the level of sound. Then a few moments later, a booming voice came through the speakers that they presently could not see.

“Attention everyone in Chalklantis. The fugitives Rudy Tabootie, Penny Sanchez, Snap White, and Barney The Encyclocentipedia have been spotted in the power plant. They had been trying to cut off power to us and they had even gone far enough to actually initiate and explosion there. Many workers had been injured. I am not sure if there are some casualties. I will keep you posted on that. But never fear. I will have those monsters captured and they will stand trial for what they have done.”

King Mumbo Jumbo’s eyes widened in horror at this. What was going on? What did they do? He looked over at them in disbelief. They looked just as horrified and shocked as he did. He tried to think of something to say, but all he managed to utter was “Wh-What was that all a..”

A sudden shout cut him off.

“I found them!”

He turned his head to see one of the guards. He was holding one of those electric sticks in one hand and motioning with his other hand. More guards were coming behind him, all carrying those same electric sticks as well.

“Everybody run!” Penny shouted.

No one needed to be told twice. Without further hesitation, the group immediately took off. They ran as fast as they could as the boar guards began to chase them. They could hear the shouts of the board zoners behind them as they struggled to keep ahead of them. While they weren’t sure of where they were in the jail, that didn’t stop them and they just kept on running. At the moment, it was all they could do.


	28. Taken Hostage Again

Rudy couldn't believe what had happened. Everything happened so fast. He had a hard time fully comprehending it.

One minute, he and his friends were moving through the ventilation system. With his broken arm, the task hadn't been easy. Penny had to push him along behind as there was no way they could fit together side by side. He tried his best not to bang his arm, though this proved to be impossible.

The next minute, they had come down through an opening and immediately ran into King Mumbo Jumbo. Many questions ran through Rudy's mind. He was taken aback, not expecting to see the tortoise so fast. How did he escape? He would have asked, but Barney had immediately embraced him and he did not want to ruin the moment.

Unfortunately, he and his friends had to cut things short. The noise of dropping the lid had caused them to draw attention to themselves. Rudy felt like such an idiot for not thinking about that. The others felt the same way as well.

Before they knew it, a bunch of guards started to head their way. He wasn't sure how may there were. But at the moment, the number didn't really matter to him; he just wanted to keep running. They had to get out of here and fast.

They ran down the hallways as fast as they could. They could hear the shouts of the zoners behind them. For heavy-looking boars, they sure were fast. Just how long would they be able to keep this up? How long would it be before they ran into another group of guards? If they became trapped, then...

Suddenly, they had to stop. There was a dead end in front of them. Well almost. There were two paths to take. But which one should they choose? They looked left and right. They both looked the same. Which one would lead them closer to the exit? Which one would be less likely to lead them into another path of guards?

"Which way do we go?" Rudy asked, turning to Penny.

Penny raised her arms up. "I don't know! I don't have a map of this place!"

King Mumbo Jumbo raised his hands up. "Don't look at me. I might have been a prisoner here, but I don't know the layout of this place either."

"Yeah, you might as well ask one of the guards and..." Snap's voice trailed off. He stared at the others. "That might be what we'll have to do."

Rudy widened his eyes at this. He remembered a similar idea was proposed before. The idea was quite unsettling. Rudy didn't want to threaten the information out of anyone. It just wasn't his style. But..then again... Did they have a choice? They could either wander around aimlessly, or they could get the information they needed. Both came with their own risks, but they needed to choose soon.

The sound of the guards got closer. It would only be seconds before they got close enough to grab them. Rudy looked behind, watching them wield those electric sticks. They hadn't shot at them yet; maybe because they were worried about hurting one of their comrades with it.

At the thought of this, Rudy narrowed his eyes. He believed he came up with a plan. If he could get them to shoot...

Without saying a word to the others, Rudy immediately dashed towards them.

"Rudy! What are you doing?!" Penny cried after him.

Snap's horrified voice shouted, "Are you insane?! This is not what I meant by... Bucko!"

Rudy felt guilty about ignoring his friends and keeping a move on, but he couldn't just discuss this with them first; there was no time and the guards would have overheard. Rudy knew that he was insane for doing this, especially with a broken arm. But he didn't need to be too fast to do this; just agile enough to dodge the attacks. Even with a broken arm, he was still pretty good with his feet.

The guards were taken aback by his sudden charge, but they did not relent for long. One of the guards let out a shout and raised up his electric stick. He attempted to strike down on Rudy. The ten year old moved out of the way quickly, allowing the guard to strike the ground.

Rudy stumbled with his feet as he headed towards another guard. This one had both his hands on the electric stick and raised high above his head. He swung it down. Rudy barely got out of the way in time. The blow had been so close, he could feel the rush of air was the thing was swung, and he could feel some vibrations in the ground. The expression on the guard's face told him that he, too, felt the vibrations.

He could hear the others shouting for him to return, but Rudy would not listen to them. He had to do this. He had to increase their odds. If it means doing something crazy like this, then so be it.

Again and again, the guards struck at him. There were about five of them. Rudy wasn't counting. All he cared about was keeping ahead of them. Slowly, he started to wear them out, and their aim became more and more off. Rudy narrowed his eyes as he realized the plan was working. It became easier to dodge the attacks, but the boar guards were still not giving up. And their attacks increased in vigor despite their exhaustion.

Rudy started to take advantage of their decreased accuracy. He jumped in front of one of the guards. He growled at the boy and tried to strike. The swung was wild and wide, as if he were trying to gain a larger range with the attack. It missed Rudy, but it did hit something.

One of the other guards let out a shout of pain as the electric stick struck against him. His eyes bulged and he fell to the ground. The guard who hit him looked at him in shock while the other guards glared angrily at him. This discontentment with their teammate didn't last long and they came after Rudy again.

The boy rushed headlong towards them and moved between them. The guards attempted to attack again. This time, more than one guard was hit. The sound of metal hitting against skull echoed in the hallway. Rudy had to move quickly to avoid getting crushed under the weight of the zoners. He kept on doing this, tricking the guards into hitting each other, until only one remained.

The lone guard stood beside the pile of his fallen comrades, staring in shock. His mouth hung open and his electric stick rested at his side. He stared from his comrades to Rudy. He took in a few breaths, in utter disbelief at what happened.

"H-How did you..."

Rudy smiled at this. "You surprised?"

The lone guard shook his head once, snapping himself back to reality. "You're just a stupid brat... I'm not going to let you psyche me out!"

Rudy felt his heart skip a beat as the guard charged towards him, letting out a yell. He stood his ground, however, and refused to show fear. He waited until the guard got close enough before he jumped out of the way. The guard narrowly missed him.

"Come back here and face me like a man!" The lone guard yanked his electric stick out of the ground, creating a slight crack in it. "Or are you too cowardly to do that!?"

Rudy hunched himself, preparing for another dodge. However, this time, something unexpected happened.

Before the lone guard could make another move, King Mumbo Jumbo suddenly rushed forward. The movement was so fast, Rudy could barely detect it outside a blur of color. He stared in surprise as the tortoise rammed against the boar guard. He flinched as he heard the body smash against the wall, and the guard let out a wheezing sound as air was forced out of his lungs.

The guard struggled against the tortoise, demanding to be let go. But the tortoise simply tightened his grip, narrowing his eyes at him. His expression alone was enough to tell the guard he had no intention of letting him go.

Penny and Snap approached Rudy slowly. They looked at him up and down, checking to make sure he hadn't been injured. When they realized that he wasn't, they glared at him, showing displeasurement at what he had done.

"That was crazy, Rudy! You could have been hurt!" Penny snapped at him, gritting her teeth.

"Yeah! Why did you pull a crazy stunt like that?!" Snap scolded him. He motioned to his arm. "They could have hurt your other arm! Or your leg!"

Penny sighed. "Why didn't you just...tell us what you were going to..."

"There would have been no time." Rudy held his hand up in gesture. "By the time I told you anything, those guards would have been upon us. And besides, I succeeded, didn't I?"

"Only because my old friend intervened."

Rudy turned to see Barney walking towards him. He looked a little annoyed, but not to the same degree as his friends.

"I know that taking risks can sometimes yield beneficial results, but..." Barney paused for a moment. He rubbed his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Just...please... Don't try a stunt like that again. Not here..."

Rudy nodded his head slowly. He didn't bother saying anything back to him or his friends. He turned back to King Mumbo Jumbo. They needed to focus on getting information out of this guy quickly, before more guards show up. They can do with the scolding later.

Rudy took a few steps towards where the zoner was being held. He looked at him up and down. He was secured quite well to the wall. There was no way he'd be able to escape, not with how tightly the king was holding him. The guard was still struggling, kicking his legs, cursing at the tortoise. But King Mumbo Jumbo did not move. He just glared at him, his grip occasionally tightening as the boar's struggles increased.

"You are going to answer our questions." Rudy stated. He was a little surprised with himself. He was not asking the zoners' permission; he was outright trying to command him. He pushed his confused feelings aside and continued, "Don't worry, they will be simple questions. Easy enough to answer. We will let you go when you tell us what we want to do."

The boar guard snorted. "What makes you think I'll tell you anything, surface dweller?"

Rudy smiled at this. "Well...it would be a shame if you were found by your buddies and the evidence points to you being the one who attacked them..."

The boar guard chuckled at this. "Like they will think that! My buddies will just wake up and vouch for me and..."

"But being knocked out can cause memory problems. Maybe they won't even remember, or others will think they were just confused." Rudy pointed at the electric stick. "Possession is a major factor. If someone else saw you with that next to them..." He pointed at the unconscious zoners. "What do you think they'll believe?"

There was a slight falter in the boar's face. But nonetheless, he still refused to back down. He snorted at Rudy again, his eyes narrowing into slits. "They will never think I was responsible!"

Rudy smiled at this. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you...sure about that?"

The zoner's eyes widened a little as his face changed to that of concern. Rudy could feel his friends' shocked gazes upon him. He looked over, and saw the way they were looking at him. This was not how he usually behaved and he could see why they'd be surprised.

But this was not the first time he had used a similar ploy. This was not the first time he attempted blackmail. There was one time I can recall recently, where he found out Reggie's full name, and used it to make Reggie admit to drawing that rude picture of Mr. Wilter. He had hoped he'd never have to do something like that again. But..there comes a time for everything, right?

Rudy stood before the guard zoner, folding his one arm against his chest. He continued to give him a sly smile, waiting for an answer. He kept a confident front. He might not know for certain if the king will believe he attacked his fellow guards or not. But...there was no way for this guard to know that.

In the distance, they could hear murmurings of other guards. They were still pretty distant for them to be heard clearly, but Rudy knew that if they didn't get a move on, there wouldn't be much of a chance of escape, letting alone getting information. So he turned to the guard again.

"Tell us where to find our way out of this jail, or you will find yourself in hot water." Rudy dropped the smile and narrowed his eyes, showing the zoner that he was being quite serious at this point.

The boar zoner widened his eyes at this. "Y-You can't be serious.."

"Oh I am serious..." Rudy growled.

"I would listen to him if I were you." Barney spoke up as he moved a couple feet forward. "He can be quite... scary if things don't go his way."

"I wouldn't risk it if I were you." Snap said with a small smile.

Penny nodded in agreement, folding her arms. "We would stop him, but once he makes up his mind, there's nothing that can make him stop."

Rudy stared at his friends, surprised that they were joining in. He would have expected them to get him to stop, that this wasn't him. But it seemed that they understood this was the only quick way they had of escaping. The fact that they lied or exaggerated about him in order to spook the zoner more was evidence of that.

Rudy turned back to the guard zoner, giving a slightly evil smile. "So...what will it be?"

The boar guard gulped.

sss

Snap panted heavily as he ran. His friends were all around him. He could hear their panting as well. He wasn't sure how long he was running. It was probably only for a few minutes, but to him, it felt so much longer. He was surprised he didn't keel over already.

Oh water... What he would do for water right now... He could just picture it now, splashing in his throat, cooling it down, destroying the scratchiness that invaded him. There were a few water fountains in this place, but he had to ignore them as they were being chased by more guards.

Rudy's plan worked...somewhat. They did get directions from him, but not long after they started running, they could hear the guard shouting at the other guards what happened. Despite what Rudy said, the guards clearly believed the lone guard and started to come after them. So they were back to where they started. At least now, however, they were running towards the exit.

They all pushed themselves to move faster. The exit was not going to be for a little while. They had to keep pace ahead of the guards. So long as they could get outside and rush through the confused and startled crowds, they might have a chance.

Such a move was risky, but Penny believed it would be the safest bet. The crowd would be too startled at the loss of most light, and if they feared them as much as they believed, they would be too terrified to make a move against them. The crowd would provide a good buffer as well, slowing down the boar guards.

They could have just went the way they had come in, but... No, they wouldn't have wanted to go through that again. Besides, the smell would have just made it easier for the boar zoners to find them.

They continued on their way, getting closer to the hallway that the boar zoner told them about. Snap looked up and he could see the red symbol that was described. He turned to the others and nodded to them. As soon as they came upon this symbol, they turned right and headed down that way.

"How...far...is it..?" King Mumbo Jumbo panted. "I was not..drawn for...this..." He opened his mouth further to try to suck in more air.

"I think we're almost there." Penny looked left and right. "That guard told us once we were down here, to look for a narrow hallway with a sharp tip at the top. It is a shortcut of some kind towards the exit."

"It seems strange..." Snap panted. "That they would have something like that for a...shortcut.."

"It is clever, I admit. Who would...think to look there..." Penny pointed out, licking her dry lips.

Rudy said, "Not me...that's for...sure..."

"Maybe they were...trying to throw people off...? I can see if...they made it too...obvious...inmates might..." Snap started to say.

"Will you all be...quiet?" Barney spoke up. "We don't want to...grab their attention...!"

"Sorry." Snap lowered his head. He felt a little guilty. He quickly shrugged it off and focused on running with his friends.

There was another shout from the guards. They sounded a lot closer now. Snap gritted his teeth. What if they weren't able to find this hallway in time? Then all their running would be for naught.

Thankfully, he could see something up ahead that looked pointed. Against the wall, he saw that unusual shape, the same one the guard described. He smiled a little, feeling a wave of immense relief that they had finally located the shortcut. He moved himself faster, going out in front of his friends. He motioned to them to come with him, and they followed suit.

The triangular shaped hallway was still several feet in front of them. They would cover that ground quite quickly, but in their exhaustion and fright, it felt like forever. Snap's legs were burning and the temptation to just collapse and go to sleep was there. He still pushed himself to move, not wanting to slow down his friend. He pushed himself to his limits despite his body crying out for him to stop, and it didn't take him long to reach the pathway.

Turning in was difficult. With how fast he was going, he wasn't able to stop in time. He nearly missed it. He still managed to turn, grabbing into the wall to give himself some leverage to turn. He ran in a few feet before he tripped on his foot and collapsed, his face hitting the ground.

"Snap!" Rudy cried as he rushed towards his friend. He watched him cough before lowering his right hand down. " Are you okay?"

Snap was a little surprised that Rudy was attempting to help him up with only one hand. Nonetheless, he still took it. Rudy pulled him up to his feet. Snap brushed himself off. "Y-Yeah... I'm fine..." Snap coughed a few times. "I'll be fine."

"Good, because we need to get going." Penny called out as she, King Mumbo Jumbo, and Barney came running in. Their eyes were wide in horror. "The guards are almost upon us!"

Snap did not hide his fear, and his face showed exactly how he felt. He turned and looked at the hallway they were in now. The area was quite small, only about twice the with of the ventilation system they were in. The hallways were at least three times that size. There was more room here, but not a ton of room. The slanted walls didn't help either. It made the place look even smaller than the ventilation shaft, despite actually having more room.

Then there was the fact that there were only two ways out. The back where they came in from, and the front. If the guards found them in here...

"Come on, let's get moving then!" Snap began to rush forward. "If they figure out where we are and have guards come in the front, we'll be surrounded!"

The others looked at each other in shock. They did not waste time arguing or questioning and they followed Snap. They moved as quickly as they could, trying to reach the other side in time. Behind them, the guards were getting even closer. It wouldn't be long before they realized where they were and send for help. And the hallway they were in was quite long...

Snap could feel his heart pounding against his chest. So much rode on them getting out of here. They were getting so close, yet the exit always seemed so far away. It seemed as if every time they took a step, another one would just replace it. It felt as though they were never getting any closer, and he could feel their hopes for escape slipping through his hands.

Yet he never gave up. They could do this. They just had to keep moving. They couldn't allow themselves to give up yet. Just keep moving. Keep running. They could do this. Almost there...

Soon they made it out. They nearly collapsed on the ground as they jumped through. The stark contrast between being stuck in that triangular shape opening and being out here was quite shocking. It was enough to make them freeze momentarily.

They didn't stay there for long. Though the hallway might be empty now, they knew it wouldn't be long before the guards would show up. They might have already sent someone out this way. They had to get a move on before they show up.

"This way!" King Mumbo Jumbo shouted, motioning them to follow. "I recognize this part of the hallway! The exit should be down here!"

They followed the tortoise down the hallway. He rushed down the right side, moving his arms from front to back as he picked up the pace. The others didn't take long to catch up to him. At this point, they could hear any guards, but that was likely due to the sound being a little muffled in the triangular hallway; most of the sound probably could not get out.

They soon turned onto a wide hallway and they could see the doors up ahead. They were approaching the exit quickly. The large double doors were partially open, a careless act by careless guards who did not ever think that their prisoners would escape. Feeling a sense of freedom rush over them, the group moved faster so they could get out.

Snap couldn't help but smile. At long last, they were finally getting out of here. He could taste freedom now. Once they were out, it would be difficult for the guards to catch them. None of the guards here could fly; that stupid deer king was foolish to only assign the boar guards there. Now this mistake was going to cost him because he and his friends were about to escape with one of his prisoners. All they needed to do was get out of the door and...

Suddenly the door shut tightly. Despite the little space, the slam seemed to echo. The group let out a surprised cry as they scrambled to a stop. They stared at the door in shock. They looked left and right, wondering what might have happened.

A loud schling sound echoed as two walls of thick plastic rose up from the ground. Both the door and their way out was blocked. They looked all around frantically. Their hearts pounded in their chests. What was going on? What was happening?

Snap rushed over to the plastic wall covering the door. He pounded on it, slamming his fist against it. He did this over and over again. He ignored the pain this was causing him.

"Come on...break!" Snap wailed. "Open up!"

No matter how hard he slammed it, it was not moving. Despite knowing it was futile, he kept punching and striking it. He had a small hope that maybe if he kept hitting it, something would give way and the wall would break. Illogical, he knew. But his panicked mind kept driving him to keep trying.

The others joined in. They all took position beside the wall he was on, hoping that their combined effort would do something. They each began to strike the wall in various locations, trying to find that one weak spot. Every wall had a weak spot. They just needed to find it.

"Break down! Come on!"

"Just keep striking!"

"Don't give up!"

"They can't keep us locked in here!"

Soon the shouts stopped, and all that was left were the determined grunts and hisses of the group. They refused to stop. No matter how much they were in pain, no matter how much the wall would not yield, they would not give up. Somehow, someway, they would tear down this wall and rush through. Even if it ripped the skin off their hands.

But nothing they did was working. No matter how hard they struck, the plastic wall would not break. If anything, it only seemed to get stronger. This revelation made them look at each other in shock. What were they going to do now?

They didn't have long to think. There was a loud hissing sound. It came from the ground, and they noticed some vents had been opened up.

"Gas... They're pumping in gas...!" Penny cried in horror. She looked at the others. "We have to get out of here... Now!"

There was a series of gasps at this. While Rudy and Penny would not be affected by the gas, Snap, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo would be. They started to increase their efforts of escape. They pushed at the wall, clawed at it, kicked it, whatever they could to try to tear a hole in it.

Snap's mind was racing. No..this couldn't be happening. They had been so close to escape. They couldn't be trapped now. No.. He had to keep trying. He had to keep striking the wall. They had a chance to escape. He just needed to...

His mind slowly started to get muggy. His thoughts became confusing and disoriented. His strength slowly began to leave him. Snap fought back. He tried not to allow himself to get weak. But nothing he did was working. He slowly began to slip to the ground. His heart clenched in horror as he realized what was happening to him. No..he couldn't fall asleep. Not now... He had to get up. He had to...

Snap collapsed on the ground as his vision darkened and became blurry. He let out a few pitiful coughs. He turned his head and he could see Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo were starting to fall victim to the gas as well. The tortoise was already down on his knees.

Snap then looked over at Rudy and Penny. They were shouting at them to get up. He could hear the desperation in their voices, despite how distorted they sounded right now. All he could do was smile at them and whisper one small word.

"Sorry."

Snap closed his eyes.

sss

Rudy stared at the scene in horror. Penny could not tear her eyes away, either. All three of the zoners, including their best friend, were all unconscious now. The gas that had been pumped in had claimed them, and now they looked as lifeless as the statues they had run past.

Penny moved closer to them. Her mouth was open in disbelief and shock. She dropped down onto her knees beside them and reached out with her hand. She pressed her fingers against Snap's neck.

Rudy took a step towards her, looking at her with a desperate look. "A-Are they...?"

Penny shook her head. "They're still alive."

Rudy gave a sigh of relief. But that didn't last long. They still had a problem. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Penny looked around, biting her lip. "I-I don't know. I..." Suddenly her eyes widened in confusion. "Rudy..."

The boy turned his head and he saw that the plastic wall behind them had disappeared. How did this happen? They weren't that far away from it and they hadn't heard the walls moving down. They looked at each was going on?

Despite their beter judgment telling them to stay away, they began to approach the newly opened wall. They moved forward cautiously, their bodies hunched as they prepared for a possible fight. When they reached the edge, they turned their heads left and right. Surprisingly, there didn't appear to be anyone there.

Penny looked at Rudy. "Well I guess they must have programmed this to... Aaaaahhhhh!"

"Penny!" Rudy cried in shock.

Without warning, Penny had been struck by an electric stick. The voltage was shooting through her body. Her fingers twitched as her eyes bulged. A scream emitted out of her wide open mouth.

Rudy took a step back and looked up. A flying zoner was positioned above her. He gulped. This place had flying guards... He shouldn't have been so quick to assume that it didn't. He and Penny had been so sure there weren't any flying guards that they never bothered to look up. If only they had...

Rudy could not finish his sentene as a shockwave of pain erupted through his body. His mouth filled with loud, pain-filled screams as another flying guard got him from behind. He could feel his body start to convulse as the electric shock raced through him. Soon, after a few painful seconds, he collapsed to the ground, his body smashing against his left shoulder and broken arm. The additional pain was not lost on him and he let out a loud cry.

Rudy watched as Penny fell down. Even through blurry vision, he could see that she had fallen unconscious from her blow. Rudy tried to crawl towards her and he reached out his hand in her direction.

"P-Penny..." Rudy whimpered. He let out a loud yelp of pain when the guard who attacked him slammed down on his hand with his foot. Rudy looked up at him, his eyes shining with the question of 'why?'. Then he closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to descend upon him.

sss

Penny grunted as she was shoved forward. It was difficult to walk with the chains on her hands and feet. She was not able to step out very far without tripping, but if she moved too slowly, the guard behind her would just push her.

Her friends weren't in any better condition. They were chained behind her, with Rudy in the front of her, and they were all pushed and shoved and hit if they didn't move as fast as they felt they should. Penny struggled to keep up the pace, but it was getting increasingly difficult. Especially with the multiple aches that her body was still having.

There were many guards around them. They were completely surrounded. They had nowhere to go. Any chance of escape now was gone. All they could do was keep walking.

Penny couldn't believe this was happening. They had been so close to getting out... How could something like this have happened? They were so close to getting out...only to get trapped again.

And now they were on their way to the colosseum again. This time, they had no fancy ride like King Zander had given them. They were walking the whole way, even going through the same locations as before. Penny was certain this was done to hurt them both physically and mentally. Physically, because it was wearing them out, and mentally, because they were forcing them to reverse their progress and make them go back the same way they came.

The trip back was not as long as getting out. That was because at least this time, they were not worried about fighting any zoners or figuring out a way to get out. These zoners knew exactly where they were going. By the time they had reached their destination, they didn't feel like they took as much time at all.

When they came back into the room where they were held prisoner, they found that the cages had been removed. A bit further down was a new, larger cage that they knew was intended for them. The door was already opened, waiting for them to walk through.

The guards led them over and motioned for them to go inside. The group did as they were told, as they had no other choice. Even when they complied, the guards still felt the need to shove them in. At least they had the decency to take off their cuffs and chains before them.

Penny picked herself up and brushed herself off. She glared back at the guards as they slammed the door shut, locking them inside. The guards began to walk away, but one still stopped and sneered at them.

"You have an audience with the king."

Penny hissed at this. But she said nothing. What was the point? It would not stop the king from coming over to speak to them. She turned her head and looked at her friends.

She was glad that none of them had been too hurt during their journey back. But they were all more tired and exhausted than before. They were not allowed any breaks. Their feet were killing them, and that wasn't even getting into the dehydration and multiple other sores they got from all the endless walking.

Penny had hoped that they would have some time alone to regain their bearings. She hoped that they would be given some chance to recover. But of course, things didn't always turn out the way one had hoped. It had hardly been five minutes and already King Zander was approaching them slowly and deliberately.

Snap growled as he crawled up to his feet. "What do you want...?"

King Mumbo Jumbo raised a clutched fist up slightly. "You won't get away with this!"

King Zander turned his gaze on the old tortoise. He gave him a sly smirk. "I really don't think you should be saying such things, given your position." He moved a little closer, keeping his gaze on King Mumbo Jumbo only. "I would think a fellow king like yourself would know better than that."

"At least I care about my people..." King Mumbo Jumbo hissed.

"And you think I don't?" King Zander motioned his hand towards him. His smile stretched further. "You abandoned your people by sealing yourself inside that cave."

"It was to protect my remaining people from the disease!" King Mumbo Jumbo shouted at him. "I had no choice!"

King Zander chuckled darkly at this. "But still in the end, you left your people alone. With no leader." He tilted his head to one side. "I wonder how they felt about that..."

King Mumbo Jumbo snapped his head back, widening his eyes. He then gritted his beak and growled. He remained silent. This just amused King Zander. Satisfied, he turned his head away and focused his attention on the others.

"I'm almost disappointed you were so easy to recapture." His ears twitched once at this. "I would have thought, with all the trouble you went through, that you'd be smart enough to avoid an obvious trap like that."

"What are you talking about?" Rudy asked. "You have no idea what happened to us!"

King Zander just smiled at this. "Perhaps..." He folded his hands behind his back as he walked along the side of the cage. "But regardless.. You should have smelled a trap long before you went into it. After all..." He turned his head and looked down at them. "Did you really think that the guard would have told you the truth? He simply led you down that hallway to slow you down enough so we could catch you."

Penny's eyes widened at this. So that had been a trick. Penny couldn't believe she didn't notice it before. She turned and looked at Rudy. She could see a brief look of guilt in his eyes. But it was clear he was not about to admit his own fault right now.

"None of this would have happened if you had just left us alone!" Rudy took a step forward. He glared at the king right in the eyes. The king looked a little surprised, but stared at Rudy with an almost disinterested look. "It's your fault that..."

"Oh really now?" King Zander spoke up, his voice overpowering Rudy's. He turned around and began to walk the other way, his hands still folded behind him. "It would seem to me that if you hadn't tried to release that head deflator disease on my people, I wouldn't have had to trick you to come down here." He tilted his head. "So tell me who is really at fault here..."

Snap raised his hands in the air. "We did not do anything! We never even heard of a head deflator disease! How could we release something that we didn't know anything about?!"

King Zander gave a humorless chuckle. "Rudy Tabootie here released the balloonemia disease without knowing about it... Did he not...?"

Barney bit his lip nervously. "W-Well that is true, but he still fixed it..."

Rudy nodded his head quickly. "Y-Yeah! I corrected my mistake! There had been no casualties!"

"And what about my people?" King Zander glared at him, his teeth baring. "How come my people weren't worth the attention? Are we that useless and unimportant to you?"

Rudy shook his head, holding his hand up in front of him. "I-It's not that.. We never released this disease... Please, you have to listen!"

Penny knew there was no point in arguing with this demented king. Rudy knew that, too, but he was still driven to desperation, and how could she blame him? This maniac just wouldn't see reason. It didn't matter what they said. Nothing would make this king understand he was making a big mistake. He was just too stubborn.

"And another thing..."

The group glared at the king in silence, morbidly curious about what he was going to say next.

"Why did you blow up the power plant?"

This question sent shockwaves through their bodies. Instantly, memories flashed in their heads about that announcement. There had been a report that something terrible happened to the power plant. They remembered that Cameo had warned them something like that could happen. But...But they had done exactly what he said. There shouldn't have been any problems. Everything should have been fine. How could something like this have happened?

Penny noticed Snap was about to say something. Thinking fast, she reached over and grabbed him. She covered his mouth quickly, silencing him before he had a chance to speak. They could not utter a word about this to the king. If they admitted they were in the power plant, he might use that against them. The last thing they needed was for them to give the king even more things to distort.

As horrified as Penny and the others were about the explosion, and the zoners that were hurt as a result, at the moment, there was nothing they could do for them. All they were able to do was glare at the king, trying to be as brave as they could be, as he paced around them, watching them with a clear look of disgust.

"No answer I see... I suppose you monsters do have some sense of guilt then..." King Zander muttered. He ignored the glares he got from that. He turned his back to them. "I will leave you be for now." He began to walk away. "I will come back and inform you of what your...punishment for trying to escape will be. And trust me..."

The deer turned his head, giving them a glinting expression, his mouth curled slightly in a smile. He looked a little insane. "You are going to wish you were only up against my precious manticore again..."

Penny widened her eyes in horror at this. She exchanged looks with her friends. Each had a horrified look of their own. Questions ran through their minds, shown clearly on their faces. The king smiled in satisfaction at this before walking away.


	29. Discussions And Suspicions

Rudy felt a growing bitterness in his stomach. It got stronger as the seconds passed. He held onto his stomach, trying to fight back the sensation. It took all of his will power and strength not to throw up all over the ground.

The others weren’t doing much better either. They all had forelorn expressions, looking utterly depressed about their current predicament. Heads were hung low, gazes looking in another direction, no one speaking. It was just silent, creating an eerie ‘calmness’ that permeated their souls.

Rudy leaned his head back and looked towards the top of the cage. For a moment, he could almost imagine the blue skies of the top side of ChalkZone. He could almost imagine the grassy hills that he and his friends walked upon. And he swore he could see one of the denizens, like Blocky, approaching him to speak to him.

All he had to do was blink once and he would realize that this was hardly the case. He was brought back to the harsh reality of being trapped. He felt even worse than the first time that he and his friends were locked up in here. And for one very good reason.

They had nearly escaped. They had managed to get out of this horrible place and were on their way to freedom. Then they decided to go free King Mumbo Jumbo, and they trusted the word of that one boar guard. They wound up being captured again and forced to retrace most of their steps, and now they were back here. Locked up, back to square one. And this time, there was no second chances. If they went the same route again, they would get captured quickly.

In addition, King Zander has some guards in this room. They were positioned not too far. They weren’t staring at them, instead looking out ahead is f they didn’t really matter. For some reason, this grated on Rudy’s nerves more than them being patronizing.

Now trapped in here again, Rudy had no idea how they were going to escape. He wasn’t even sure they could make another trip across the underground cave, let alone run from the king’s guards. He and the others were weakened by the lack of food and water. If the king planned on putting them through another arena battle, none of them would last very long.

Even planning another escape, if they dare risk it, could not be accomplished. The guards were placed near them for this very reason. If they speak anything about an escape, their sensitive ears will pick it up and they will report to the king. The thought was irritating and chilling. How would they be able to discuss anything with them listening in on every word?

His thoughts soon moved to Cameo. He hadn’t heard from him since they departed in the power plant. He couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing, and what had happened to him.

The thought of the power plant made his gut wrench. There apparently had been an explosion there. He wasn’t sure how many zoners got hurt. He wasn’t even sure how it happened. Cameo told him what to do and he followed those orders strictly. Then Cameo was supposed to go to the king and report and lead him on a false trail.

Well obviously that had failed. He wasn’t sure what happened, but Cameo either did not convince King Zander or there had been another factor in what happened that they weren’t aware of. The result was the king dismissing Cameo’s claims and recapturing them.

This king...he was quite clever. He continued to outsmart them. First, he tricked them with a note, telling them to come down. He took advantage of their personalities and made them travel down to the city. Then he made them build a large colosseum where he trapped them and used them for entertainment of his people, while at the same time saying it was their punishment for releasing a disease. And just recently, he had a guard play them like a sap and they followed the wrong path, which gave enough time for a trap to be set up. And now...they were here.

How were they going to beat this guy? The fact that he was able to snatch away their victory and reverse all their progress was quite chilling and unsettling. He couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest at this. No matter how he looked at it, they were in big trouble.

He wanted to remain hopeful. They all did. They didn’t want to believe that it was over for them, that all their effort meant nothing. They could still try. They were still alive. They still had a chance to defend themselves and fight back. They just...had to keep trying.

But in the end, they were still trapped and it was getting closer and closer to seeming like they’ll never get out of here. They might never see their friends or family again. They might never return home or experience anything else ever again. The thought of that scared Rudy and he found himself shedding a small tear. He immediately wiped it away.

He looked down when he felt a warm hand against his arm. He saw that it was Snap. The blue and white zoner must have seen him start to cry a little. Rudy smiled at him, but did not attempt to say anything. Just Snap’s presence so close to him was enough to help him start to feel a little better. Turning his head, he saw that King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney were attempting to comfort one another and Penny was looking at him and giving him a sympathetic look.

Unlike before, none of them tried to say they will get out. Because all that would do was build up false hope. They had told each other that many times already. That was enough of that. Simply saying they were going to get out was not going to change a damn thing. No, what they needed to do was to actually get out. Somehow.

But for now, they remained trapped, prisoners of the insane Chalklantian king, standing accused of something they didn’t do, punished for something they had no involvement in, and presently having no way out. He wasn’t sure how things could get any worse.

“I just don’t get it.”

Rudy and the others looked over at Penny. They wondered what she was talking about. They waited for her to elaborate.

“During our...trip through Chalklantis, we never saw any cameras. There wasn’t a single monitoring system anywhere. Not in the ground. Not in the air. Not in the water. Nowhere. Then we arrive at the power plant, and Cameo helped us avoid the security. He even told us that the cameras wouldn’t see us where he was.”

Snap rubbed his chin. “Well that guy might have been lying.” He raised his hand up. “He is Kairos’s brother after all.”

“Yes, true, but there were no cameras up that way, Snap.” Penny held out her hand towards him. “You saw for yourself. We even looked. There were no cameras.”

“What are you getting at?” Rudy looked at Penny with a confused expression. He wasn’t sure exactly what Penny was trying to imply. And judging from the looks of the others, neither did Snap, Barney, or King Mumbo Jumbo. “Is there something you’re trying to tell us?”

Penny nodded her head. Her eye wer furrowed in concern and confusion and uncertainty. “If there were no cameras, how did the king know that we were there to begin with? No one saw us enter or leave, outside of Cameo.”

This caused the group to look at one another. There were a few murmurings and uncertain expressions. Rudy himself was taken aback by this. He had never thought of it before. But maybe there was a reason that they just weren’t thinking of. And apparently Snap quickly figured something out.

“King Zander was just lying to rile up his citizens. You know how he is.” Snap said.

“Yes, but..how would he have known to trap us if he didn’t actually know that we were there?” Penny pointed out. “There’s no way he would be prepared for that unless he actually knew we were going to be there.”

Snap faltered a little. He looked left and right as he tried to think of something else. He raised his hand and said, “Well maybe Cameo told him? I don’t really trust that guy. He could have turned his back on us and...”

Penny narrowed her eyes. “Snap...there would have been no time. Even with flight, there’s no way he could have spoken to the king in time. Not with those regulations and how massive that building was. He probably got there inside around the same time we had gotten into the prison.” Her eyes widened at this. “Which meant even less time for him to prepare...unless he knew were there before, or going to be there and...”

Penny went silent as she stared at the others. Her eyes held a strong message that everyone seemed to understand. It was unsettling and unnerving. They looked at one another, each hoping that this was some kind of sick joke, that it couldn’t possibly be true.

But no matter which way they tried to look at it, the possibility was still there. Not only was it still present, but none of the other pathways seemed to make much sense. This made them all look at each other nervously. Even Snap tried to come up with an explanation, and forced himself to face reality.

To confirm what they were thinking, Penny whispered softly, “The only way King Zander would have known that we were at the power plant...” She leveled her eyes with the others. “...was if he had a spy camera following us.”

This sent shockwaves through the group. None of them could hold back their gasps of horror. They again looked at one another, each looking utterly horrified by this prospect.

None of them wanted to believe that the king had been spying on them, but..it was the only thing that put everything together. That was how he was able to make that announcement about them being at the power plant. That was how he was able to set up a trap for them and recapture them. He had been watching them since they had come back.

A cold chill rushed through Rudy as he allowed this information to sink in. All this time, he had thought that he and his friends were home free. But they were really just being played for saps. As soon as they stepped back into the city, the king knew they were there, and he had played with them. Beating and outrunning the guards might have all been part of his plan.

His eyes bulged as another thought entered his mind. He tried not to think about it. He tried to dismiss it as impossible. But the thought would not leave him alone.

“Rudy...?” Snap looked up at him worriedly. “What’s wrong...?”

Rudy noticed the others were looking at him now. All with wide eyes and mouths partially open. They were preparing for another shocker. As much as he hated to do it, he would have to deliver it to them. “What...what if King Zander...spied on us the whole time? During our trip?”

Penny snapped her head back, clenching her teeth fearfully. “Rudy..I... What makes you think that...?”

“Yeah, Bucko...?” Snap stared at Rudy curiously. “What makes you believe King Zander spied on us during our trip?”

“I didn’t see anything.” Barney pointed out, raising his hand up in gesture.

Rudy frowned at this. “We didn’t see anything at the power plant.”

“But the king might have had someone hidden, or a camera placed in a strategic location.” Penny pointed out. “It would have been much harder to hide a zoner in say, the open plains. I don’t think anyone followed us out there.”

Rudy at first wondered if Penny could be right. There was little reason to think that they were spied on in there. After all, if the king knew they were there, he would have just had his guards come out and recapture them. There was little reason that King Zander would want ‘filthy top siders’ wandering around his city and his home.

His thoughts shifted when he remembered the magic chalk that had been dropped off. They seemed to appear at just the perfect time. They were small pieces, having been cracked from full sticks of magic chalk. He hadn’t thought about it too much before because of the danger, but he and the others already had some suspicions regarding that magic chalk. The only magic chalk they knew were the pieces they had brought with them into Chalklantis to start with. And those had been confescated by King Zander.

There was no indication that magic chalk existed anywhere in this underwater cave. In fact, there was only one place in ChalkZone that he knew of where magic chalk would grow, and that was the Chalk Mine, which Biclops guarded with his life. That meant that the only other possibility was that the chalk pieces they used were their own. But that wasn’t possible if King Zander had them. Unless...

That led Rudy to make a horrifying conclusion: what if it was King Zander dropping off those pieces? Or someone working for him?

Penny seemed to read his expression. She leaned in a little closer to him, staring at him in the eyes. “Rudy...? Do...do you think that King Zander could have spied on his on our escape route...?”

“H-He is quite clever.” Barney whispered softly. His eyes echoed with the memories of recent, uncomfortable events. King Mumbo Jumbo wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a comforting hug.

“I wouldn’t put it past him to find some way.” King Mumbo Jumbo’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “He has a way to get what he wants.”

“Yeah but..how could he have...” Snap’s voice trailed off. He turned to Rudy. “What do you think, Bucko?”

“It would explain where the chalk pieces came from.” Rudy said. This caused everyone but King Mumbo Jumbo to widen their eyes. Rudy looked at them, giving them each a serious look. “There’s no way magic chalk grows here, and we brought the only ones. The king, or someone working for him, must have been planting them to ‘help’ us along. As if they wanted us to get so far and then trap us just to hurt us more mentally.” Rudy said the last few words in utter contempt, tasting a sourness on his tongue. It would just be like King Zander to do something like that.

“But...But how...?” Barney bit his lip. “We didn’t see anyone out there. We always checked!”

“Yeah..except up.” Snap pointed out. “We didn’t look at the skies all that much. We paid attention largely to the ground.”

Penny rubbed her chin. “So the king might have used a flying zoner and...” Her voice trailed off, her mouth dropping open. She stared at the others long and hard, her mind’s gears looking as if they had been frozen shut. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it.

But she did not need to speak. Her expression alone told everyone what she was thinking. This caused Barney to whimper in fear, causing King Mumbo Jumbo to try again to comfort him. This time, his words had little affect. There was a look of protectiveness in the tortoise’s eyes. He had learned what happened to Barney and he was not going to allow it to happen again. Rudy and Snap looked at each other, each gritting their teeth in fear.

Penny was able to whisper what she had intended to say. “....what if it was Kairos...?”

This simple phrase caused their minds to flash back their escape. Everytime they had found a piece, it might have been given to them by Kairos. They might be wrong, but the very idea of that sociopathic monster being the one to aid them sickened them. The idea of them being constantly watched by him sent chills down their spines.

But most of all, it made them realize that King Zander had been watching their every move. At least at the moment of the first chalk piece being dropped, King Zander had known exactly where they were. He could have just captured them, but instead he had toyed with them and made them believe they were making progress. This meant that, no matter what they did, they never would have escaped. King Zander would have known where they were and arranged a trap for them.

The realization of this possibility caused another one to surface. If King Zander truly had masterminded this whole thing, then what else had he done? The thought sent chills down their spines.

“Cameo...” Penny whispered. She looked back at the others as her eyes widened a little further. “If Kairos really was spying on his, he would have overhead, or at least seen, Cameo was with us. He could have told the king and...”

Rudy finished her sentence. “Cameo went straight into a trap...”

They all looked at each other, allowing this new bit of information to sink in. Cameo... Despite some reservations, they hoped he was all right. He didn’t deserve anything that King Zander could possibly dish out to him.

King Zander... He was proving himself to be far more dangerous than they could have realized. More prepared and more cunning. How could they compete against someone like this? How could they outwit him when he may have been messing with them without them even realizing it?

Before they could think about this more, they could hear the sound of the doors opening up. They shifted their heads to look at the approaching guard. He held a metal plate in his hands and he was carrying it towards them. He had a look of disgust, but intermixed was amusement. His mouth was ticked in a very slight smile.

“Looks like you’re actually here this time.” The guard said, chuckling. “I would have thought you’d escape again, like last time..” He growled softly at that comment. His humored voice still remained to some degree. “I see you finally crawled back into your cage where you belong.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes at the zoner. Snap did likewise, along with King Mumbo Jumbo. Penny and Barney gave more apprehensive looks.

One of the other guards turned his head towards him. “Hey, Cyd. Cut the chit chat. Just give the prisoners their food and leave. They have a lot to look forward to.”

Cyd smiled at this. “Oh I know that. I won’t be long.”

The boar guard approached the cage, holding the plate that had a few bags of food, some most likely Real World, along with water, for both the zoners and for Rudy and Penny. He opened up the cage door just a crack. They made no attempt to escape; where could they go with the guards there? Cyd tossed in the food carelessly.

“Here, eat up! The king wants you to have some of your strength back.” Cyd folded his arms against his chest, smirking at them. “Trust me, you will need all the energy you can get.”

Rudy glared at the zoner. A part of him wanted to dismiss the food entirely just to spite him. He did not want to give any of these zoners the sense that they controlled them. He was half tempted to throw the Real World water at the bars so they could escape again, but he thought better of it. There were probably guards stationed not too far.

He looked down at the food. He licked his lips slowly. He realized just how hungry he really was. And thirsty, too. The others, minus King Mumbo Jumbo who was likely fed recently, stared at the food and water with temptation.

It didn’t take long for Rudy’s hunger to win him over and he grabbed one of the sandwiches he and Penny had packed before when they first came here. He held it up to his face and began to eat it almost greedily. He never thought he’d be so happy to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The others began eating as well.

sss

Kairos walked down the hallway slowly, wearing a long, sadistic smile on his face. He couldn’t believe how well things had been doing lately. He should have always trusted in King Zander. Things had worked out just like he promised. The fugitives were back in custody and were about to face a ‘trial’ of sorts. If one could even call it that.

But most importantly, his brother had been apprehended. No longer was Cameo a threat to him. He would be able to walk free now, without any worry of Cameo telling the king of his little...demeanor. Well technically he could still say something, but who was going to believe him after his little stunt? He could say many truthful things and the king would think that he is lying about every single one of them. Things couldn’t get any better.

Well technically they could. He could just leave his brother alone. He isn’t going to be any sort of threat right now. He was harmless to him, and that was all that truly mattered.

But no... He couldn’t just leave it at that. He needed a little more. He needed to get back at his brother for all that he had nearly caused him. Cameo would have been just fine if he had just left things alone and accepted his duty as a lowly guard. Instead, he tried to play the big times by orchestrating a plan against him. By doing that, he was just asking for the horns.

He continued to move down the hallway until he reached a large, metal door. He grabbed onto the large handle and pounded it a few times. There was a click as something activated, granting him access inside. He was glad that the king had a dungeon for ‘special’ prisoners. It took him less time to reach his no-good brother.

He ignored the dingy smell that hung in the air. He ignored the overall eeriness of this place’s design. He ignored it all until he reached an old cell in the far corner.

There, hanging on the wall, was Cameo.

Kairos couldn’t help but smile at this. Cameo wasn’t injured, but he looked really exhausted, almost as if the experience had aged him. His head was hung low, a forelorn expression on it. His wings were flattened against the wall with large band-like cuffs, and his feet were also attached to the wall as well. There was no telling how long he had been hanging up there, but for Kairos, it wouldn’t be long enoug.

“Well, well, well... What do we have here...?”

Cameo opened his eyes. He immediately noticed his brother. Instead of a defiant look, he simply widened his eyes in horror. This just made Kairos smile even further.

“Looks like my dear brother bit off more than he could chew...” Kairos moved in closer. Cameo didn’t attempt to speak. There was a slight shiver to his body. He turned his head to one side as Kairos got too close. Kairos stared into his blue eyes, practically seeing the glow of his own orange ones reflecting back. “You should have known better, dear brother. If you hadn’t plotted against me, none of this would have happened.”

Cameo swallowed nervously. He moved his eyes up and down as he stared at him. “Y-You...” He licked his beak apprehensively. “How did you..kn-know about...”

Kairos threw his head back and let out a laugh. This was a riot. Did his own brother forget about the special ability he was given? Did he forget what he was capable of doing? Had he really been stuck doing guard duty for that long that he forgot? No wonder he had always failed at getting back at him. He wasn’t too bright.

Kairos placed a wing against himself. “Oh? Did you forget about my special ability?” He paused for a moment. Well the fox and the hound also had this, but he was not going to include them. “I was created to be a spy bird.” He motioned his wing to one side. “I record information.”

“L-L-Like Biclops...?”

Kairos gritted his beak at the mention of that stupid giant. He nodded his head once. “Yes, like him.” He smiled twistedly, leaning in. “I saw your whole plan unfolded. I was watching, dear brother. And the king knew right away.” Cameo stared at him wide-eyed. “That was why you failed. Because you were too stupid to realize you were being watched. All that time being a guard really weakened your senses.”

Cameo flinched as Kairos laughed at him. Oh man, this was more fun than he thought it was going to be. And he hadn’t even touched his brother yet. He wondered just how far he could tear him down before he had to resort to more...physical measures.

“Say, Cameo...?” Kairos raised a metal feather up and stared at it. The light glinted it off slightly. “Remember how I cannot feel physical pain...”

Cameo pulled his head back as far as it could go. Kairos chuckled at this and moved his metal feather over towards him. He pointed the feather directly at him. He pressed it against Cameo’s cheek, pushing in enough to make the metal tip sink into his skin.

Cameo let out a yelp as Kairos slowly cut along his face. The injury was shallow with only a little blood. But Cameo was shivering as if he had been struck a lot harder. Yes, it seemed Cameo understood his predicament quite well. But perhaps he’ll ignore that and pretend as if he were being defiant against him. It was more fun that way.

Kairos looked at the tiny amount of bloo that clung to his metal feather. “But you can...”

His darker-colored brother shook his head. “N-No...please... Don’t hurt me...”

Kairos’s eyes twinkled. “That’s right, Cameo. Beg. I love to hear you beg. I love to hear all my victims beg.” He stretched his wings out, making himself appear larger and more threatening. “I’ve always wondered what it felt to feel pain, and maybe you can help me with that!”

Cameo’s eyes widened at this. He tried to plead, but in a matter of seconds, a scream eminated from his mouth, bouncing off the walls in the dungeon.

“That’s right! Scream for me!”

“Aaaahhhhh!”

sss

Mrs. Tabootie fumbled with her fingers nervously. She couldn’t help but look at her watch constantly. It had already started getting dark. Rudy and Penny had yet to be found, and she and the others had yet to learn anything about what might have happened.

Many thoughts were rushing through her skull. She didn’t want to believe that her own son lied to her. Rudy had never done anything so irresponsible before. Why in the world would he start now? What possessed him? And Penny, too... She never gave any indication that she would be a bad influence to Rudy. What was going on?

Her motherly instincts were telling her to go find her son. She wanted to just rush outside, run around, and track him down like a bloodhound. But she knew that would accomplish nothing. She had no leads. Everything turned up a deadend. The police were already working on it. All she could do now was trust in the police that they will find her son.

That, and speak to the one person who had seen them last. She and her husband were at the library, along with Mrs. Sanchez. Mrs. Tabootie wanted her sister to be here with her, but she was unable to make it. Tie ups and all.

Denny had agreed to speak to them about what happened, but he could not promise them much. He had already told them everything he knew, but still, talking to him might help them feel a little better. And there was a chance that they could help him shed new light on what might have went on. Surely there had to be a reason why Rudy and Penny would ditch school and disappear into the library like this.

“You saw them running in here?” Her husband asked in a quiet voice. It sounded as if this was asked a million times, yet it hadn’t actually been uttered once during this meeting.

Denny nodded his head. “I was getting ready to put some books away when I saw them rushing down here.” He furrowed his eyes with concern. He looked away for a moment. “I tried to stop them, but..they just kept going. When I got here...they were gone.” He looked over at the parents, giving them a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine how you must feel...”

Mrs. Sanchez formed a fist with her hand, shaking it. “How could the manager let something like this happen...? Shouldn’t he have known that something wasn’t right? He runs this place. He..He should have known that there was no bus picking them up!”

Denny sighed softly. “I do not like my boss anymore than you do. I have had complaints about him before, for being too complaint, and not all that willing to punish the children when they could have gotten themselves into serious danger.”

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Mr. Tabootie raised his hand up. “What kind of boss dismisses a case like this?”

Well, it’s not that the librarian boss dismissed the case. But he certainly wasn’t doing a very good job of it. From what Denny said, he had forbidden the man from reporting the incident to the police, supposedly for two reasons.

One, there had been no proof the children had disappeared because of anything associated with this library. Apparently the boss believed that unless there was direct involvement with someone in the library itself, it was not of their concern.

And two, the boss did not want to taint the reputation of this library. This had been one of the reasons why he never reported before, in addition to loving children too much to punish them. He wanted this library to constantly have the childsafe seal of approval, to always be a happy, wonderful plae for kids. He did not want to ruin his reputation.

The thought of that made Mrs. Tabootie’s blood turn into fire. Two children were missing and this horrid man was not doing a thing about it. Denny, who they all knew wasn’t as fond of kids, was being more sympathetic and helpful to their cause than the child-loving boss was. That spoke volumes about that man.

“I promise, I’ll do what I can to help you find out what happened to your kids.” Denny said, interlocking his fingers and leaning foward. “Unlike my boss, you can count on me.”

Mr. Tabootie smiled at this. “You definitely look trustworthy.”

Mrs. Sanchez placed a hand against herself. “We will forever be grateful for your help.”

Denny smiled the best he could at them. Soon his smile faded and he turned his gaze to one side. “There is...something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Oh? About what?” Mrs. Tabootie asked.

Denny looked back at them. “Do any of your children like chalkboards?”

The parents stared at one another.

sss

He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He took in the distinct scent all around him. The smell of fear and anger. The smell of dust. The smell of metal.

Of his plan coming into fruition.

King Zander stood at the podium. The colosseum was packed again. Even more so than before. There were so many zoners here, he couldn’t believe it. All of them would bear witnes to what will happen to Rudy Tabootie and his comrades. After this, his citizens would be begging to go to the surface.

And that was just the beginning of everything. He couldn’t help but smile to himself. Everything was falling into place just like he had planned. This time, he had taken extra measures to ensure that this group will not escape. Oh how clever they were, but not enough. In the end, he still held the cards, and he was going to play them.

Down below, the group had already been brought out. They stood in the middle of the area, huddled close together. He could see that Rudy was glaring off in his direction. King Zander did his best to hide his smirk. He had to keep himself calm, otherwise, he might drag himself in too far and lose sight of what he was supposed to be doing.

He watched his fellow citizens, noting how angry they were. They were constantly spewing questions and accusations at the trio for destroying the power plant. Well that was a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn’t destroyed, but there was damage done to it. The king couldn’t help but smile as he listened to the group try to defend themselves. But of course, nothing they said fazed his people.

“Why did you do it?!”

“Do you have any idea what you almost did?!”

“B-But... we’re telling you... we didn’t cause that explosion!” Rudy shouted back, raising his hand up in gesture.

“Please! You’ve got to believe us!” Barney called out. “We would never...”

A citizen laughed coldly. “A likely story! You’re just a land dweller! Why would you care if you hurt us?”

Snap growled. “We’re telling you, we had nothing to do with it!”

King Zander watched this go on for a few minutes. He didn’t like dragging things on for longer than they needed to be. But he was enjoying this. There was something almost comical about this argument between the humans and their allies and his own people. It made what he was about to do all the more gratifying.

He decided not to keep his citizens waiting for much longer. Now was the time to start. Now it was time for this group to face the punishment of what they had done.

He grabbed the mic and picked it up. He cleared his throat, his mind filling with rapid thoughts as he organized the speech in his head. He then moved his hand outward and began to talk. “My fellow citizens! Standing before you are the fugitives who had tried to get away with murder! They blew up the power plant and many had been injured because of them! They tried to kill us, then they tried to destroy our power!”

The audience immediately booed and shouted at the group. This caused clear discomfort among Rudy and his friends. They looked around at them fearfully. At this point, they had wisely decided not to try to defend themselves again.

“And that’s not all!”

Originally, he was going to use this footage as a means of exciting his fellow citizens. After all, they had enjoyed their fighting before. But now, he was going to use it a different ends.

He lifted up his hand, holding a remote control in it. He noted the curious looks on his people. He noticed how Rudy, Penny, and their zoner comrades were staring at him in confusion. He tried his best not to smile at them, wearing a look of solemn and angered seriousness as he pressed the button. All around on the screens, footage of their recent endeavour through Chalklantis began to play.

“They had killed some of our denizens. The worst one of all being committed by Barney The Encyclocentipedia.”

There was a flash of horror on Barney’s eyes as footage of him deliberately attacking and trying to eat the grasshopper zoner was on full view. Many audience members were putting their hands to their mouths in utter horror and disgust at what was happening.

After he felt his people had seen enough, he turned off the footage. As soon as he did, the zoners immediately started an uproar against the group, most of the attacks and questions directed at Barney himself. The centipede was unable to defend himself and he huddled close to his tortoise friend.

Instead of allowing this banter to continue for much longer, King Zander decided to speed things along a little.

“But not to worry! He will not kill another citizen! None of them will harm another life form in our world ever again!” King Zander raised his hand into the air. “They will be dealt with and you will all bear witness to their demise! They will be punished and they will be used as a message to all surface dwellers! We are not to be trifled with and we will not tolerate monsters like these guys invade our home and try to take away everything we hold dear!”

The audience roared in approval.

“Yes! Teach them a lesson!”

“Destroy the invaders!”

“Let’s see some body parts!”

Rudy and the others pressed against each other for support, looking around fearfully at the zoners calling out for their destruction.

King Zander could feel his heart swell in excitement. He couldn’t take it any longer. He had to unleash the surprise now. He could not keep his people, or himself, waiting much more. He motioned his hand towards the large gate on one side of the arena.

“Open up the gates! It is time for Rudy Tabootie and his ilk to meet Cychreides!”

As he said this, there was a loud pounding on the other side. Something was desperately trying to break out. Again and again it struck, shaking the ground and trying to get out of its captivity. The group stared in fear and moved back slowly. His guards present there did not allow them to move away much further.

Two of his winged guards flew down and began to open up the gate. They pulled up the wooden bars that kept the creature inside. In a matter of secodns, the door was broke down, dust kicking up into the air, clouding its vision to anyone trying to see it.

Then, seconds later, the smoke began to clear, exposing a massive dragon. The crowd cheered as the dragon let out a mighty roar and charged towards Rudy and his friends.

King Zander watched, a very faint smile moving on his face. This...was going to be so much fun to watch.


	30. A Beast Of Metal

Penny found it difficult to take her eyes off of the creature as it came out of the doors. The thing was huge, larger than anything else they faced. Even bigger than the adult drakon they had run into before. It was so large, she had a feeling that they were going to have a much harder time dodging it. Just how could they hope to avoid this creature when its body was half the length of this arena center?

It stood on four legs, a long, segmented tail jetting out behind it. It had a long neck that thinned at the top. Its head was a little too large for the neck and it had a few extra wires around it for support. It had sharp teeth and a jagged-looking mouth. It had large wings that had an energy shield activated for the membranes. The wings made it look even larger, stretching straight up and outward.

The body was metal. The light shined off of it mercilessly, making it hard to look at some areas of the metal dragon without having to look away. Its eyes glowed purple, and there were no pupils, making it a little harder to tell where the creature was looking.

The metal dragon walked forward a little, eyeing them up and down. It then deactivated its wing membrane and folded its wings against its side. It let out a mighty roar and it charged towards them. With each step, the ground shook tremendously. Its massive weight and size threatened to crack open the ground, despite it being still many miles thick.

Penny let out a yelp and she turned to get out of the way. Snap had already jumped away, and King Mumbo Jumbo was pushing Barney along quickly so he wouldn’t get hit. Rudy was running back a little, his head looking over at the dragon. Penny thought he was going to get hit, but at the last second, he tripped and he fell into the ground. The metal creature ran past them. It stopped when it reached the other side of the arena. It turned around and stared at them intently. Its tail swished from side to side with excitement, similiar to a cat about to pounce.

Penny gritted her teeth. She looked at the others. Despite the food and water they were given, they were still a bit weak. They had done so much walking and running lately... Well all except King Mumbo Jumbo. He was in the best shape by comparison, but even he couldn’t take on the metal dragon.

Penny looked back at... What did King Zander call him? Cychreides? Yes, that was it. Cychreides was still staring at them. It looked as if it were trying to determine its next move.

During this quiet moment, Penny tried to think of how they could defeat this dragon. They had no magic chalk and King Zander most likely wouldn’t give them any. She wasn’t going to count on it. Why would he risk giving them a chance of escape?

Though she was still unnerved by the idea of King Zander being the one giving the chalk, she did not dwell on it for long. Right now, she had a much bigger problem that had her attention at the moment.

Cychreides looked as if it was getting ready for another attack. She tensed up, readying her leg muscles. Sure enough, seconds later, Cychreides charged at them. This time, it didn’t do just running; it also attempted to bite them. Its jaws slammed shut and Rudy was barely able to get out of the way in time. Snap managed to jump into the air when the dragon tried to bite him.

Then it struck out with its paws. Its large claws slashed along the air and ground, scraping loudly. Snap and Penny had to do a lot of jumping in order to stay one step in front of the dragon. Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo jumped back, scrambling to get out of the way as one of the membrane-less wings struck out towards them.

Suddenly there was a loud scream. Penny whipped her head over and her eyes widened as Cychreides struck Rudy with its tail. The boy was rolling across the ground and soon crumpled.

“Rudy!” Penny and Snap called out in unison.

All around them, the zoners were cheering on the dragon. They were demanding that the dragon destroy Rudy while it still could. The metal dragon did not react their words, being more concerned with what it wanted. It soon looked at Barney and charged towards him. Its body moved along quickly, almost like a serpent. Barney let out a scream and attempted to run away.

King Mumbo Jumbo jumped in the path of the dragon. He grabbed onto Cychreides’s mouth and began to push back. He was able to hold on longer than anyone would have thought. Soon, his knees buckled and he went onto the ground. Cychreides lifted his head and threw King Mumbo Jumbo to the side. Then it turned its attacking to Barney.

The centipede immediately let out a scream and scrambled to get away. His small, nimble legs weren’t useful for moving with much agility, but he still was outpacing Cychreides. It was hard to tell if the beast was just so heavy it could not catch up to him, or if it was just toying with Barney. Most would assume it was the latter.

Penny and Snap soon reached Rudy’s side. They lowered themselves and grabbed onto the boy’s arms. Slowly, they lifted him up. Rudy let out a series of low groans as he tried to deal with the pain.

“Bucko...speak to me!” Snap asked as he stared at Rudy’s hung head. He sucked on his lip for a second. “Please..say something!”

Rudy let out a cough and turned his head to Snap. “What did you...want me to say..?” He gave a small smile at this.

Penny stared at Rudy with concern. Her eyes moved up and down as she surveyed the damage. “You took a bit of a glow to the head. You need to be careful.”

Rudy hissed at this. His teeth were bared. “Where are...the others..?”

Snap lifted his head and looked over. “That dragon is busy trying to get at Barney. He can really move...”

Rudy rubbed his head with his hand. In a few seconds, his eyes bulged. He turned his head, his mouth dropping open in shock. “Barney!”

Penny looked over to see what was going on. She could see that Barney was still able to keep pace in front of the dragon. An amazing feat. But it wasn’t going to last. Penny could see he was starting to slow down. If they allowed this to continue for much longer, then Cychreides was going to catch him soon.

Penny quickly tried to devise a plan in her head. As her gears turned, she watched the dragon and Barney. If they could distract the dragon somehow...

Penny looked at the let that bounced off the dragon. It was still so intense. She wondered if the dragon was affected by this as well. She noticed that there appeared to be a ridge around its eyes. Kinda like weird-looking sunglasses. Was this simply part of its design or was it vulnerable to its own lights? Would they hurt them?

That was it. That just might work. Penny immediately reached up to one of her earrings. She grabbed one and pulled it out of her ear. She turned to Snap and tossed it to him. The zoner fumbled with it for a few seconds, and soon it rested in the palms of his hands. He looked at it before turning to Penny.

“Um..what did you want me to do with this, Buckette..?” Snap asked.

Penny pointed toward the dragon. “Distract it with it!” Snap blinked at this. Penny pressed on. “Shine the light in its eyes!”

Snap’s eyes widened as he realized what she meant. “Oh... But why don’t you do it?”

“You’re faster! You could stay out of its reach while you shine the light in its eye.” Penny motioned her hands forward. “Now hurry up! Barney doesn’t have much time!”

Snap pressed a hand over his forehead. “No problem, Penny!”

Penny watched as Snap rushed towards the dragon. He attempted to wave his arms about and shouted at the dragon. But the metallic creature was too busy chasing Barney to really notice him. Penny trusted that Snap would be able to get his attention. He was good at gaining attention like that.

She helped Rudy to the ground. He was still dizzy from the blow to his head. There was not going to be a ton of time for them to remain like this. She wanted to use what little time they had to give Rudy a moment of rest. She let him lean against her as she looped an arm across his back and pressed him against her. She held onto him gently, listening to him breathe a little shakingly.

“Everything is going to be okay, Rudy.” Penny whispered to him softly. “Just relax.”

Rudy shuddered, his eyes clinching shut. “I..I feel so dizzy...”

“Shh... Just relax. It’ll be over quickly. Just ride it out. You will be fine.” Penny wasn’t sure just how true her words were, but she wanted Rudy to be as comfortable as possible so he could relax. He was not going to feel any better if he remained tense.

While she held onto him, she looked over at Snap. She bit her lip and wished Snap the best of luck. She hoped he would be able to distract the dragon long enough for them to come up with a plan.

There just had to be some way to stop this dragon. A weakness somewhere. She scanned its body up and down. Cychreides didn’t look like it had much of a weakness. But everything had a weak spot. She just needed to figure out what its was before it was too late.

sss

Snap couldn’t believe what he was doing. Of all the crazy things Penny asked him to do, this was one of the worst. It wasn’t as bad as Doofus Penny and her random experiments, but it was pretty damn close to it. But still, he trusted her judgment and he was willing to go along with what she said.

In his hand, he held Penny’s earing tightly. He ran after the dragon, but it was so hard to catch up. The dragon might be stocky and heavy, but it sure could more really fast. There was no way he was going to be able to catch up in time. How was he going to be able to help Barney if he couldn’t get into position? If only there was another way he could...

Wait, there was. Snap immediately rushed into the center of the arena. Cychreides was chasing Barney around in a circle. King Mumbo Jumbo was currently stuck and was unable to provide assistance. Snap hoped that his help would be enough until King Mumbo Jumbo could free himself.

Positioning himself in the center, he raised Penny’s earing and moved it around. He waited until he saw a small, bright dot appear. He moved it around a little, getting a feel for how to move it. Once he figured it out, he turned his attention to where the metal dragon was. He watched it, getting an idea of the pattern as it kept running around in a massive circle. Barney’s screams echoed, and a few times, he would shout at him.

“Don’t just stand there! Help me!”

Snap narrowed his eyes slightly. Barney needn’t worry. Help was on the way. He raised Penny’s earing up and waited for the right moment. Then he moved the earing to one side, causing light to bounce off from it and it hit the metald ragon in the eye.

There was an immediate reaction. The dragon skidded across the ground, coming to a stop. Its massive claws cut into the ground and created several deep dirt gashes in the ground. The dragon let out a mechanical roar as it turned its head to the side. Snap moved over quickly so he could shine the light in the dragon’s eyes again. The dragon backed away, swinging its head from side to side as it tried desperately to escape the light.

Snap kept adjusting himself, countering any attention the dragon tried to escape the light. He could see it try to raise its wings, but it never took off. The dragon’s inability to see caused it to be too afraid to even fly.

Snap got a little braver and moved in slowly. He kept shining the light in Cychreides’s eyes, preventing it from seeing anything to properly attack. It let out a series of panic-filled roars and it swung its claws and tail into the ground blindly. Snap had to jump back to avoid getting hit, but overall, he managed to stay out of the dragon’s path.

Snap looked over at Barney to make sure he was okay. The centipede looked rather shaken up, but was otherwise fine. Barney looked at him and then at the dragon with a fear-filled expression. Snap thrust his head to the side, motioning for Barney to go help his friend. Barney got the message right away and he began to run towards King Mumbo Jumbo.

The blue zoner turned his attention back to the metal dragon. He continued to shine the light in its eyes, making it back away until it hit against the wall. At first, it looked as if he was going to be able to hold the dragon back for a while. But then it did something he did not expect.

It began to charge towards the light.

Snap widened his eyes in shock. Cychreides, in a desperate attempt to free itself from the horrible light, decided to dash in the direction the light was coming from. Snap could not do anything to stop the charge. He backed away for a while as Cychreides opened its jaws. There was a glow that swelled up inside. Realizing what it was, he scrambled to turn around and run faster.

Snap jumped into the ground and flattened his body as an intense heat and light shot above him. The dragon’s blast missed him entirely and struck against one of the walls in front of him. There was a loud boom and rocks and dust were kicked up. The audience right above let out a series of screams and Snap wondered if they were going to fall off.

The wall did not crumble. These walls must be very strong. They were likely reinforced while they were away. Even with the dragon’s full blast, it did not make too much of a dent in the wall. That might be good for the Chalklantians, but it was not good for him. Snap had to start running as the beast bounded towards him.

sss

“King Mumbo Jumbo! Are you okay?!” Barney cried as he rushed to his friend’s side.

The old tortoise looked up at him. His expression was that of pain. Nothing intense, but enough that the centipede knew something was bothering him. “I’m...okay.”

Barney narrowed his eyes at his friend’s blatant lying. He did not try to scold him, and he moved in closer. He examined King Mumbo Jumbo’s current predicament.

The tortoise’s leg was caught in the ground. He must have been slammed a little harder than he thought. Barney moved in a little more and lowered himself. He placed his hands on the leg and examined it carefully. He heard a hiss from his friend, and as his eyes scanned it up and down, he noticed slight bruising. He bit his lip as he realized that King Mumbo Jumbo had twisted his leg.

He didn’t have much time to help him. He could hear the screams from Snap, and the roaring told him that he was presently being chased. It wouldn’t be long before the dragon decided to come after him again.

He began to claw at the ground with his finger tips. The dirt was soft yet thick. It took a little while before the dirt would start to give way. He soon managed to tear away chunks of rock and dirt from the ground, sending them flying behind him. He kept this up, despite nearly bending his fingers the wrong way a few times.

Once he managed to clear enough, he grabbed onto his friend’s thick leg. He mustered up as much strength as he could. Then he yanked upwards. It took some effort, but he soon was able to pull his friend’s leg out.

The resulting release of pressure caused King Mumbo Jumbo to hiss and grab onto his leg. He looked at it carefully, moving his hand along it.

“Can you walk on it?” Barney asked.

“I think so.” King Mumbo Jumbo climbed up to his feet. He held out his hands to balance himself. “If I can just...” He put pressure against his injured leg. As soon as he did, he yelped and stumbled forward. He required Barney’s help to restabilize. “Okay, maybe not.”

Barney looked at the leg. He could see swelling around it. He bit his lip. How was his friend going to be able to keep away from the dragon? Even with his help, he was not going to be able to keep up the pace for long. Cychreides was going to catch him. If only there was a way to slow it down...

Barney looked at the metal dragon as it chased Snap around. He admired Snap’s agility and speed. Yet he was fully aware that, with how weakened he was, he would not be able to keep this up for long. They had to do something and fast.

The centipede noticed that Penny was deep in thought. He guessed that she, too, was looking for a weakness of some kind. It was hard to tell what kind of progress she was making. Barney looked at the dragon and tried to study it for himself. He cursed to himself about his memory of this place being tampered with, but perhaps, now that he had this dragon back in his database by seeing it, maybe he would be able to figure something out.

Alas, not much was coming up. He hadn’t seen enough. He wouldn’t be able to pinpoint a weakness like this. He returned to watching. He was confident that it wouldn’t take too long for him to figure something out that could help them.

In the meantime, he wished Snap the best of luck. He was going to need it.

sss

A part of Rudy wished that the colosseum didn’t have a spare power system. It was darker in here than before, but there was still plenty of light. And that gave Cychreides enough visibility to see them. If they could find a way to blind him...

No, that might not last for very long. He noted how the beast was still able to chase his friend even with the light shining in its eyes. It must have some other system it could use to see. Like a radar system or something. This meant that methods of blinding will not work. They needed to find some other way to stop the dragon.

He looked at Penny. She was clearly trying to think of something herself. But she was having a hard time. He couldn’t blame her. How could they stop something that was made of metal? They didn’t have access to those electric sticks the king’s guards used. If he ran over and tried to grab one, he would get hurt. The last thing he needed in this state is another blow.

He soon took note of the dragon’s feet. Every time it placed its foot down, he could see a slight indention in the ground. As the dragon kept running, he could see some indentions more clearly than others. The whole ground was becoming filled with them.

At first, he just noted how this showed just how heavy this thing was. If this dragon were to stomp on any of them...it would be over. There’d be no way that they could survive it. Their bodies would be crushed.

But as he kept watching Cychreides chase his friend, he began to realize something. If the dragon was so heavy, and it needed all that support just to move... He had to wonder...

Rudy decided to ask now, even though his thought process was not yet complete. “Penny...” Once he got his friend’s attention he said, “With something that large, do you think it could keep running around like that?”

Penny turned her head to the dragon, and then back at Rudy. “Probably not for long.”

“I thought so. There’s just...too much weight. It would need to take flight and that would take energy.” Rudy studied the dragon intently, his eyes shifting around. He could feel Penny’s curious eyes on him, wondering what he was thinking. He did not keep her waiting. “And if it were to suddenly shift all its weight into one location...”

“The resulting shift would likely cause it to get stuck.” Penny finished. “Or it would break a leg.” Her eyes widened slightly at this. “Rudy...are you suggesting that we...?”

Rudy stared intently at the dragon. “If we can get a hole dug somewhere, and lure the dragon towards it, and make it step on it...” He paused for a moment, allowing the gruesome details fill inside of his head, imagining the snapping of the leg. “We might be able to stop it.”

Penny stared at him in uncertainty. “I’m not so sure if that’s a good idea.” She held up her hand in gesture. “How would we dig a hole in time? That thing is pretty fast for its size. It might see us and...”

Rudy cut her off. “Then we will have to make sure that it doesn’t see us.”

Rudy looked after at where Snap was. The small zoner was getting tired. He could see Snap starting to slow down. There was no way he could keep this up for much longer. They needed to help him quickly, before it was too late. He turned back to Penny.

“You and I could work on the hole.” He said.

“Where?” Penny looked down as Rudy pointed. “...here?”

Rudy nodded. “It’s the best spot. Snap is still keeping the dragon busy. But he won’t be able to keep up much longer. We need to do this now, before he stops and the dragon gets him.”

Penny casted a worried glance to where Snap was. Currently, Snap was keeping out of the way, but that could change in a moment’s notice. If they didn’t do something soon... She looked at him and she nodded her head once. “Okay, let’s get started.”

With that, the two children got onto their knees. With his hand, Rudy began to claw at the dirt. It was hard and difficult to remove. Even with Penny’s help, digging a hole in the ground was taking a lot more effort than he thought it would.

This put a new perspective on the indentions the dragon was making. It had to be quite heavy and strong to be able to make that much of a mark on a ground this hard. This caused his heart to skip a beat. He had a sudden vision of what it would be like to be struck by that thing. How many bones would it break? Would it even be possible to survive such a blow?

Rudy shook the thoughts out of his head and turned his attention back to the ground. He continued to claw and scrape, trying to make the tiny hole bigger. He hoped that Snap would be able to hold out long enough for him to finish.

sss

Snap couldn’t believe that this was happening to him. He just had to agree with Penny’s plan and distract the dragon. He just had to rush up to the dragon and make it chase him. Now here he was, running for his life, with Cychreides chasing after him, not far behind. Everytime the legs moved, every time the ground shook, he could feel the mechanical whirring, and the heaviness of each step.

His lungs were on fire. He felt like his entire insides were blazing. He could feel his muscles weakening with each step that he took. He wanted to drop onto the ground and rest. His body was demanding that he take a break.

But the metal dragon’s mechanical-sounding roar forced him to keep going. There was no time for him to stop. He could not rest. He had to keep running. He pushed himself to move faster, barely able to avoid the claws coming down towards him. There was a loud thud just behind him, and a crack of a medium sized rock that was there, and he gulped when he realized that was almost him.

He did not have a long time to rest when he noticed the dragon was attempting to bite him again. He let out a scream and pushed himself into the ground. He shuddered at the resounding metallic sound as the dragon tried to bite into him. He felt his heart racing as he realized just how close he came to getting chomped.

At least the dragon hadn’t fired up its breath weapon again. Otherwise he...

Oh he just had to say something, didn’t he...? He could see Cychreides opening its mouth wide, and prepared another short towards him. Snap did not have much time to get out of the way. He scrambled up to his feet and jumped.

He was thrown into the ground when the dragon’s blast was fired. It collided with the ground, shaking it horribly. He flinched and moved his arms rapidly in the air, struggling to keep himself from falling down. As soon as he regained his footing, he tried to move, only for the dragon’s long tail to strike against him. He screamed as his body rolled across the ground.

He pushed himself up, his body shaking. He put a hand on his side. That was going to give him one heck of a bruise. He turned and looked at the metal dragon as it approached him slowly, growling deeply. It opened its mouth and prepared to fire again. Snap, realizing he would not be able to dodge in time, shut his eyes and waited for the blow.

He could hear the creaking sound of the dragon changing direction. Confused, he opened up his eyes. He saw that Penny had dashed out towards him, waving her arms and shouting. And the dragon listened, turning its body to face her completely.

Snap’s eyes widened in horror and he struggled to his feet. “Penny! No!” He reached out towards her, wishing that his arm could stretch out. “Don’t do it!”

But either Penny was ignoring him or she could not hear him. The dragon was rushing at her, and she was still waving her hands as she ran backwards. She made no attempt to get out of the way. The sight of this horrified Snap and he couldn’t fathom why she was doing this.

He could see that Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo also could not believe what was happening. The two zoners had rushed towards the dragon. Snap noticed that King Mumbo Jumbo was limping, and was having a hard time pushing himself forward. It was rather impressive the way he kept on moving, though. Snap would have smiled if he didn’t know how serious this situation was.

The dragon did eventually notice the pair. It turned and faced them. Penny looked horrified by this turn of events and was shouting louder, more desperately. At this point, Snap was back on his feet and he was running towards Penny.

“No! Stop! Come back here!” Penny shouted as the metal dragon started to snap at Barney. The centipede skillfully managed to dodge each time. But for how long?

Snap grabbed onto her arm and tugged on her. “Penny! What were you doing?!” He tried not to sound accusatory, but a part of him just couldn’t help it. Why would Penny recklessly endanger herself like that?

Penny glared down at him. “I was trying to stop the dragon!”

“By what? Letting it eat you?” Snap retorted, holding his hand up. “I sure hope that wasn’t your plan, Penny.”

Penny shook her head. “Of course not! Rudy and I were going to...” Her voice trailed off when she heard a scream. They both looked over at what was happening.

Snap placed his hands against his face and shouted, “Barney!”

Cychreides had tossed Barney across the arena. He landed a few feet from where Rudy was standing. Rudy immediately knelt down to help him up. Snap and Penny watched in horror as the dragon barreled down towards them, its purple eyes showing the intent of killing.

King Mumbo Jumbo, fighting against the pain in his leg, grabbed onto the tail of the dragon. He yelped in pain a few times as his leg was hit against the dragon’s metal body. Soon he started to climb up slowly, his short, stubby claws providing some traction. To everyone’s surprise, the tortoise managed to reach the top of the dragon before it reached the boy and insect.

“Leave my friends alone!” King Mumbo Jumbo grabbed onto the horns of the dragon and started to attack it in one of the eyes, striking at it again and again with his fist.

The dragon let out a screech and swung its head from one side to the other. It did not stop. It just kept on running while it swung its head about. It let out a series of desperate screeches, its feet still pummeling the ground as it continued to run.

No matter how much the dragon swung its head and body around, no matter how many times it tried to bite the tortoise, Cychreides was unable to make King Mumbo Jumbo let go. The tortoise was rather relentless, constantly striking at the eye until there was a shatter and a spark. The eye went black and dead.

There was little time for them to react to this. As soon as it happened, the dragon let out a screech, as if it could feel the pain of its eye being destroyed, and it reared up on its hind legs. It flailed its limbs about, trying with increased vigor to strike the tortoise. And this time, its claws made its mark. The tortoise screamed as he was plummeted into the ground, the claws making a dent on his shell.

“King Mumbo Jumbo... No!” Barney attempted to rush towards his friend, but Snap grabbed onto him and pulled him back.

“Wait! We need a plan!” Snap told him.

Barney turned to glare at him. “There’s no time! That beast might...”

He did not get a chance to finish. There was a loud crash and the sound of something breaking. Everyone, even the audience around them, had gone silent as the dragon laid on the ground, one of its legs bent at an odd angle.

“I-It worked...” Penny whispered.

Snap and Barney both looked at Penny in confusion. “What are you talking about?” Snap asked. “What did you and Rudy...”

Rudy answered this. “I figured that the dragon’s own weight was its weakness. So Penny and I dug a hole and were hoping it would run into it.”

“That was why I was having the dragon chase me.” Penny stared at Snap intently, letting this sink in. “I was leading it directly towards the hole.”

Snap’s mouth dropped open. “I...I didn’t know..”

Barney’s antennas curled. “So...I had endangered my friend by chasing after the dragon?”

Penny sighed softly. “Don’t beat yourself up, Barney. The plan worked anyway.”

Indeed it did. Snap looked over and saw that the dragon was still laying on the ground. It wasn’t even moving, as if the pain...if it could feel pain, was too much for it. He could see in his head how this happened, how its leg got caught in the ground, how it continued to rush forward and its body weight causing its leg to snap. Snap could see the wires and circuitry even from this distance. Though it was not flesh, he could not help but flinch.

He and the others gathered together after a few moments. They panted heavily from their ordeal. They let it all sink in. They had managed to save themselves. They survived this attack, for now. They savored the moment while they could, giving each other smiles as they realized they were still alive.

However, not everyone was happy that they were still alive.

“No! It can’t be over yet!”

“This shouldn’t be! Get up, you stupid dragon!”

“Attack!”

Snap gritted his teeth as he looked all around. Of course the audience wanted more. Of course they would say such things. Snap would have shouted back, but he managed to hold his tongue. He was not interested in arguing with zoners like these. The sooner they got out of this dump, the better.

If the audience was this angry at them winning, the blue zoner could only imagine how angry and pissed off King Zander was going to be. He was the one who seemed to want them dead the most. He didn’t know why the king wanted to do that. If Barney had shown him anything about them, the king would know that they were heroes, not enemies. His blood boiled as he imagined how the king must have distorted the stories purposely to spook his own people. What a creepazoid...

But when he turned his head to look at King Zander, he noticed something was...quite off. The king wasn’t glaring or angry like he thought. King Zander looked quite calm. In fact, compared to his people, he looked downright...happy. But...why..? Snap couldn’t fathom why. It...It was almost like he knew something. Like...

Snap’s eyes snapped open in horror as he realized what it was. He whipped his head to the side and he could see the dragon was starting to climb back up to its feet. But what got his attention the most was its head facing towards them, preparing to fire again.

“Look out!” Snap shouted as he jumped against Rudy and Penny, who were right in the path.

A horrific pain errupted in his side. He pulled his head back and screamed as the beam struck him. He could feel some warm wetness, and in seconds, he crashed into the ground. He could hear his friends call out for him. He could hear the audience cheering. It was all distorted.

Then, in seconds, darkness claimed him.

sss

“Snap! No!” Rudy shouted as he reached his hand towards his friend. He attempted to grab him, but Penny pulled him back.

“Rudy! Wait! We need to assess his injuries first!”

Rudy found it difficult to hold still. He stared at Snap’s prone body, his own shaking in shock. He couldn’t believe what had happened. Everything had went on so fast. He could barely register what had happened.

His plan to stop Cychreides had only worked for a short time. The metal dragon had still managed to attack despite its condition. He and the others had been so caught up in their victory, of relief that they were still alive, none of them had noticed the dragon beginning to attack.

That is, except for Snap.

The small blue zoner had jumped against him and Penny. He pushed them out of the way. And in the process, he himself had gotten hit. He would never be able to get that horrible image out of his mind. And that sickening sound...and the scream... He shut his eyes tightly, letting the tears flow down. How could he have been so blind? Snap...

“He’s still breathing.” Penny said, who was kneeling beside Snap. Rudy looked down and saw her stroking his head gently. “The beam only grazed him. It just looks worse than it really does.”

Rudy smiled in relief at this. “That’s great to hear.”

King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney took a few steps forward. The tortoise limped a little and requried Barney’s help to keep standing. They peered down at the superhero zoner. They said not a word. Their expressions alone said enough.

All around them, there was an eerie, disgusting cheer. Pleased shouts echoing across the arena. Zoners whistling, demanding an encore, demanding for more bloodshed. The volume increased as the seconds passed, and soon Rudy was not able to think in his own mind. It echoed too much with the cruel words those zoners were saying.

Rudy’s body quaked in rage. He formed a fist his hand. He shot a death glare towards the zoners. This did little to stop them. It just made them shout even more excitedly. Never before had Rudy ever wanted to punch someone.

He saw movement in the corner of his eyes. He, along with his equally disgusted and pissed off friends, turned to look as King Zander moved his podium a little closer, the beams keeping the platform aloft high above them.

“Looks like your friend took quite a hit.” King Zander said, his tone that of amusement. The fact that he took this so casually made the group really angry. “Isn’t that quite a shame..?”

Rudy gritted his teeth. “You fucking monster... It’s your fault he’s like this!”

King Zander cocked an eyebrow at this. “Again with the cursing. Dear boy, you’re too young to...”

“Shut up!” Rudy howled. “I’ve had enough of you! You spread lies about us! You tricked us into coming here! You abused us and you used us! You tried to destroy us! All for some blatant lies that I know you know are false! How could you treat us like this?! We never did anything to you! We did not release that disease! No amount of your accusations will make that a fact!”

King Zander shook his head, almost disappointed. “I see even seeing your friend get injured, you still cling to your lies. When will your facade fail? How long will it take before your front breaks down?”

“It will never crumble...” Penny hissed. “Because we aren’t lying!”

The zoners around them either laughed or expressed anger and hatred.

“We know you are lying! Why don’t you just confess the truth?” One zoner shouted.

Another agreed. “Yeah! It’ll make the process so much easier!”

Rudy and the others did their best to ignore the shouts. This was difficult as their words were loud and permeating. They did their best to focus only on King Zander. They knew he was the mastermind of this whole operation. It was he, not they, who was the biggest enemy.

King Zander interlocked his thick fingers together. “Well I think our..champions...deserve a little break.” His dark eyes glinted as he regarded the group with cruel intentions. “We will continue this session...later.”

With a snap of the finger, the guards began to approach the group. They did nothing to resist as they were forcibly escorted back. Rudy and Penny protested to the treatment of Snap, who was just dragged along like he was some kind of rag doll. His words fell on deaf ears and soon they disappeared through the doors.


	31. Interlude

"So your kid likes to draw on chalkboards a lot." Denny allowed this information to sink in. "That might explain the marks on my chalkboard."

"Perhaps, but..." Mr. Tabootie paused for a moment, trying to think of what next to say.

Mrs. Tabootie finished for him. "He wouldn't burst into someone's office just to draw on one. That isn't like him."

"Neither would Penny. She does use the chalkboard a lot for writing formulas and homework, but she wouldn't trespass." Mrs. Sanchez said. "She would just use paper or something."

"So would Rudy." Mrs. Tabootie added. "If he wanted to draw in the library, he'd get paper, not a chalkboard."

"I see..." Denny nodded his head slowly. He went silent for a few moments to think about what he was just told.

The parents had just confirmed that Rudy and Penny both loved to use chalkboards. They were for entirely different reasons of course. Rudy and his drawings and Penny and her scientific stuff. In the end, both still enjoyed using chalkboards and had flat out refused to allow their chalkboards to be sold. This gave him reason to believe that they were the ones who used the chalkboard.

But something still felt wrong here. The parents had also stated about how their children would not have broken in here. They would either have gone with paper, or, as he would have suspected, they'd ask permission. The fact that they had broke in here and used the board was apparently out of character for them.

So what now? He didn't really have too much to go on. The reasons they used chalkboards weren't really strong enough to him to sneak in here. If they were playing a practical joke, that's one thing. But not only was that not something they'd do, but it's hard to play a joke on anyone if the message or picture was erased.

Further more, the erased mark looked almost like a circle. Did those two really come in here just to draw a circle, and then erase and leave? No, something was wrong here. There had to be something else going on. He just needed to figure out what it was.

Perhaps there was another angle he wasn't considering. Maybe there was a reason that he just hadn't thought of yet. Maybe there was something about Rudy and Penny that these two hadn't told him yet.

Whatever it was, he would find out, somehow.

Denny leaned back in his chair, giving a soft sigh. "I wish I can give you more information, but I'm...rather stumped right now. I was hoping that you three could shed some light for me that could help, but based on what you said, there'd be no reason for them to pull a stunt like this."

Mrs. Tabootie shook her head. "It's all confusing for me as well. I've never seen Rudy act this way before."

"Not Penny either." Mrs. Sanchez placed her chin on her hand. "It's just...not like her to ditch school and sneak into an office like this."

Denny narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did they...ever get into trouble? Did they ever do anything that seemed out of the ordinary? Are you absolutely sure they hadn't done anything that..."

Mrs. Tabootie shook her head. "No, I.."

"Wait, Millie, what about that concert?" Mr. Tabootie held up his hand. "Remember? He was forbidden to go and he snuck out to see it anyway."

"Yes, I remember that." Mrs. Sanchez said, backing up what the man had said. "Although..." She scratched her chin. "I have no idea how he could have gotten there. He wasn't in the car with me and Penny."

"He wasn't?" Mr. Tabootie blinked as he stared at her. "I thought he snuck out through the window and got into your car."

Mrs. Sanchez shook her head. "No."

"Then...how did he get there?" Mrs. Tabootie whispered.

Denny watched as the adults began to speak about this mysterious incident. It seemed that there really had been more going on than he had originally thought. Rudy did do something that showed he was not a perfect angel like they had been more or less applying before. Suddenly, skipping school didn't seem too far out there. If the kid disobeyed his parents and somehow managed to get to the concert without help from even Penny's mom...

Wait, just how did he get there? He couldn't have taken the bus. That would have been too slow and there wasn't any that went out to his house. It's doubtful one of the neighbors would have taken him; they would have told his parents where he was.

Denny let this all sink in. Somehow, Rudy was able to get from his house to the concert and then back home without his parents knowing. At least not until later on. How was he able to accomplish this? How was this possible? Was there some sort of connection?

"Who was at the concert playing?" Denny asked.

"Betty and his group. He's the one that wears that chalkboard around his neck." Mrs. Sanchez gave the answer to him, her finger raised up.

"And the kid has a chalkboard in his room, does he not?" Denny said, turning his head to one side.

"Well yes, but..." Mr. Tabootie paused, staring at the other adults in confusion. He turned back to Denny. "Are you..trying to say there's some kind of..connection?"

"I am not sure, but.." Denny turned and stared at the chalkboard in his room. "It's the closest to a connection we've ever had."

He might be wrong. He was certain he was wrong. But he could not deny that this was the closest connection that they had been able to come up with. They had been struggling to find a reason for why Rudy and Penny came here, and now he might have figured out a reason.

There was something...special about these chalkboards. Was there a secret behind them that Rudy and Penny knew? Something that would attribute to how they could disappear and reappear so quickly, despite all logic stating it should be impossible?

He had a plan.

He turned back to the adults. "Do any of you have a video camera?"

"I do." Mrs. Sanchez raised her hand. "What do you need it for?"

Denny would have said the first thing that came to his mind, but he did not want to sound like a total nutcase. So he backed himself up and said something that sounded more logical. "In case they come back and we aren't here to see it..." He motioned with his hand. "At least we can check the footage and pinpoint a time."

The parents looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll go get the camera." Mrs. Sanchez said.

"And we'll stay here however long we can." Mrs. Tabootie said.

"I'll try to let you stay as long as possible, but the library will be closing soon." He looked at the clock, biting his lip. "One more hour, then you must go." He looked at them with a sympathetic look. "I'll call you as soon as I have any kind of information."

Mr. Tabootie reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you. We appreciate it."

sss

"Hold still, almost done..."

King Mumbo Jumbo did his best to hold still. He shut his eyes and gripped the ground. He tried to distract himself from the pain. He reminded himself that it would all be over soon. He just needed to hold on and wait this out. Soon Penny was going to be done and he was going to feel better.

He would have said it was kind of King Zander to give them a small piece of chalk to tend to their injuries. But knowing the type of zoner he was, he would never say that. King Zander just wanted them to be in better shape for round two against the dragon, which was being repaired at this moment. He mentioned it wouldn't be as much fun destroying them if they all couldn't fight back.

Rudy and Penny only accepted the offer because they really wanted to help their friends. They wanted to treat them the best they could, and without that chalk, they'd be unable to.

Besides, he wasn't the only one who was injured. As Penny continued to wrap the cloth around his leg, the old tortoise looked over at where Snap laid. He was beside Rudy, his head resting on his lap. There was a bunch of thick cloths wrapped around his body to keep the dirt out and cover the wound. He flinched at the sight, noting the blood soaked white cloths and remembering how he had been struck by the dragon's breath weapon.

No matter how well he was treated, he would be at the most disadvantage back out in the arena. There was no doubt that King Zander would force them back in soon. Snap would not be able to move that fast with that injury and he'd be an easy target.

And so would he. His leg still ached from what happened before. He was not in as much pain as Snap must be, but his leg injury would still slow him down enough that he wouldn't be able to get away fast enough. Both he and Snap were gigantic targets and would likely get killed in the next round unless they figured out a way around that.

He had to scoff at the idea. What were the odds of them figuring something like that out in time? There wasn't even anymore magic chalk to use; Penny used all of it to draw the medical supplies, and she was just about finishing up using the last of it on him. He glanced down and watched as she continued to wrap up his leg tightly.

In the end, it would take them a miracle to get out of here. These four had already escaped before, and he was able to escape his cell. The king had taken precautions to insure that it wouldn't happen again.

And one way he did that was by assigning guards to keep an eye on them. Should they do anything to try to escape, they would be stopped immediately. They couldn't even cough without one of the guards noticing. They were trapped and King Mumbo Jumbo was becoming hard pressed finding any sort of escape.

"There, it's finished."

King Mumbo Jumbo felt some of the pressure leave him as Penny moved her hands away from his leg. He looked down at it, moving his leg around a little as he tested the bandage.

"Does it hurt still?" Penny asked. A silly question yes, but she couldn't help but ask it.

King Mumbo Jumbo moved his leg around one more time. With a proper assessment, he said, "Not as much as before. I still doubt I'll be able to walk on it, though."

"And I forgot to draw you a cane..." Penny looked down. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay." King Mumbo Jumbo told her. "You had to use most of your chalk on your little friend there." He motioned to Snap. "He...does not look good."

Barney, who was curled up not too far away, nodded his head. "Taking a blow like that from Cychreides was quite devastating. He was lucky that it didn't end up killing him."

At this, Penny shuddered. "I'd hate to think of that."

"We all do." That was all King Mumbo Jumbo could think of saying before falling silent. He let out a sigh and turned his head to where Rudy was.

The boy hadn't spoken many words since they came in here. His attention had been fully on Snap. It wasn't simply because Snap was his creation. But he was also one of his best friends. They were really close, almost like brothers. To see his friend get so badly hurt like that... It was no wonder he was being a little distant right now.

Snap hadn't woken up yet. He still laid unconscious. The tortoise wondered if he was ever going to wake up in time. Or would King Zander just toss him into the arena no matter what? He wouldn't put it past him, the monster.

Speaking of the monster, he could hear footsteps approaching. It was not King Zander. They lacked the distinct clopping sound that he associated with the king. This sounded heavier, and he already could guess who it was.

Sure enough, it was Cyd, bringing in another plate of food and water for them. King Mumbo Jumbo was about to tell him to go shove it down his throat, but he kept his beak shut. He was not in the mood to speak to this guy and talking back like that might just make things a lot worse for them.

"More grub to stuff your faces with." Cyd said with a sneer. "King Zander is being really generous. Normally he doesn't do this until a couple days later."

"So he likes to starve his prisoners." Penny said bitterly.

"At our last arena long ago...yes." Cyd sounded completely sincere, but made no indication he had regret or remorse for it. "He believed it made the competitors better fighters. But for you..." His smile grew nasty. "He felt you're so pathetic, you'd need the extra energy just to have a chance."

Barney narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I can see he's being very generous." His voice did not hide any of the sarcasm that was laced on it.

Cyd chuckled at this. "Well, you surface dwellers are made of softer stuff." King Mumbo Jumbo glared at this. "It is only appropriate that you be treated like the weaklings you are."

King Mumbo Jumbo couldn't hold back anymore. He immediately got to his feet. His rage allowed him to ignore the pain in his leg as he limped over towards the front of the gate. He noticed Cyd's somewhat surprised expression, but he paid it no mind as he stared into the boar's eyes.

"If he thinks we're so weak and pathetic, why does he have us locked up?! Why did he have them spied on almost the entire time they had been out?! Why did he go through all this trouble just to trap them, and me, again?! If he thinks we're weak and he wants us gone so badly, then why doesn't he just shoot us?!"

He took in heavy breaths as he let the energy he had building up leave him. He could feel Rudy's, Barney's, and Penny's shocked eyes on him. A part of him was feeling stunned as well, but he dare not turn his head to look at them. He kept his gaze on Cyd, waiting for him to answer.

Cyd was silent at first. He looked as if he was trying to figure out what to say to that. Was it possible that Cyd was unaware of what the king wanted? Did he not know what the king's full plans were?

Soon Cyd began to smile and he gave a soft, low laugh. "Of course you would say that. You don't know the way the king thinks..."

King Mumbo Jumbo glared at him. "Perhaps you could enlighten us?"

Cyd looked like he was about to respond, opening his mouth. Then his face furrowed, as if confused or uncertain. "I...need to get going. I'll just drop off your food and be on my way."

King Mumbo Jumbo deepened his glare. Just as he thought. He didn't know. The tortoise had to wonder... Did anyone in this joint know what King Zander's full plans were?

sss

With a loud thud, Cameo laid on the ground. Kairos watched him as he quivered in pain, his limbs twitching. A smile stretched along his bronze beak as he looked at his handiwork.

He started toying with him for a few minutes, but he got tired of cutting him while he was chained up. King Zander would not approve of what he did, but at the moment, he didn't care what the king thought. This was his moment and he was going to take it.

Before releasing Cameo from his binds, he made sure to slice up both of his feet so it would hurt too much to walk. After that, he pushed him into the ground and had his way with him. He sliced him up, inflicting as much pain as he could without killing him or giving him too many serious wounds. He did not want him to die. He wanted him to live with the humiliation and shame of trying to cross him.

Now Cameo laid on the ground, a small pool of blood forming, most of it originating from the general leg area, and much of his prison outfit had been torn up by his metal feathers. Tears stained his face as he lifted up his head and stared at him with his pathetic blue eyes.

Cameo looked like he was going to say something. He wisely chose to be silent. He just kept staring at Kairos, clearly wondering if he was going to do anything else to him.

The thought was very tempting. Kairos would certainly engage in it some more. But he had to hold himself back. He had wasted too much time toying with his brother. King Zander would soon wonder where he was, and he may be needed for the final punishment to be delivered onto Rudy and his ilk. He had to be present for that.

Deciding to finish up, he reached down and grabbed his whimpering brother by his lower beak and he forced him to look up at him. "I presume this means you aren't going to be standing in my way again, right?" He put his face close to his. His orange eyes glowed, almost overpowering his brother's blue ones. "You won't try to pull another stunt like that?"

Cameo shook his head weakly. "..n-no..." His voice was so weak and pitiful.

Kairos smirked at this. "Good." He let his head drop to the ground carelessly. He listened to his brother yelp in pain. "Keep it that way. I won't want to have to do worse to you..."

Cameo stared at him in horror. Kairos smiled at him for a few seconds, savoring this moment. Then he turned around and left.

Kairos couldn't help but smile as he continued through the hallways to return to King Zander. He wouldn't arrive there for quite awhile, and he took that time for a little introspective.

He had a lot of fun playing with his brother. Every time he screamed and pleaded for mercy, he just hurt him more. He loved it when he begged, and he loved the screams that he made. He felt so empowered, like nothing couldn't stop him. He felt a strong sense of pride knowing that he had managed to stop his biggest enemy. Cameo will not be a threat anymore. Now he could put all of his focus back on the intruders.

He wondered how well they were doing. Did they do as well as they did last time, or did their skills suffer from all that wandering around they had to do? Did King Zander put them out of their misery, or was he making them hold on for however long possible just to be able to punish them more.

Kairos wondered how long it would be before the king decided to put them down. He couldn't keep them alive forever. Sooner or later, something had to give. The kids would either die of dehydration and starvation from the lack of food, or their injuries would catch up to them. The king had not fully stated why he wanted them alive for a while, or when he was going to have them killed.

He narrowed his eyes at this. It was rather...strange. He did know more things about the king's plan than anyone else, and yet he still couldn't help but feel a little left out. Like there was something...missing. A piece of the puzzle that would explain the rest of King Zander's choices.

The king wanted to go to the surface, although the full reason why, he didn't outright state. Kairos was certain there was a good reason for it. The king was planning something big. Really big, and he wanted to know what it was. He had wanted to try asking before, but his lower rank made him too fearful to even make the attempt.

Well, he was certain he would learn about it sometime. He just needed to be patient and all would become clear to him. He was the king's most trusted confidant. He would not keep him totally in the dark; when it was time for him to know, he would.

Soon he was outside of the palace. He stood a few feet in front of the door and took in a deep breath. He looked all around him. Some of the lights had been restored, he noticed. He guessed that someone at the power plant had figured out how to fix it. He was glad; it would make it easier for him to fly towards the arena.

He stretched out his wings and he launched himself into the air. He flapped hard, rising higher and higher. Then once he was high enough, he began to move towards the colosseum, which he could barely see from way up here. He continued to fly towards it, wanting to reunite with the king as quickly as possible.

sss

King Zander lifted the glass of water into the air. He looked at it, seeing how everything looked wobbly through it. He then pressed it against his lips and he began to drink it slowly. He swallowed it and he placed the glass of water down beside him. He lifted his head and turned towards Kairos, who stood not far from him.

The deer zoner narrowed his eyes. "What took you so long...?" He motioned his hand towards him. "You were supposed to be here a while ago."

"I-I-I'm sorry, s-sire.." Kairos fumbled his metal feathers together, lowering his head. "I did not m-mean to keep you w-waiting..."

"What kept you...?" King Zander asked, his voice stern. "I hope you had a good reason for taking so long to get here."

At this, Kairos seemed really nervous. He didn't look like he wanted to speak up again. He was looking left and right as if trying to figure out something, what to say. Seeing this made King Zander realize just what he might have done. He growled softly, hoping that Kairos wasn't dumb enough to do something like that without his permission.

"You did it again, didn't you...?" King Zander's voice was lower than before.

Kairos lowered his head and gritted his bronze beak. "..y-y-yes..."

King Zander felt the temptation to explode. But he managed to keep himself under control. He couldn't lose his temper now. The next round in the arena was going to start soon. He could not permit himself to lose control so close to that time. He forced himself to exhale slowly and when he spoke, he did it through clenched teeth.

"I know how much you love trying to understand physical pain, Kairos, and I know how much you love testing it out on our prisoners, but for the love of.. Will you please hold off for a while and focus on what's important?!"

The bird zoner cringed, taking a step back. His body bowed much lower. Kairos looked pretty pathetic right now, trembling like a leaf. "I-I'm s-s-sorry."

King Zander glared at him. "I outta have you punished." Kairos stared at him wide-eyed. "But...I won't. You are more useful to me when you don't have a broken leg."

Kairos rose up a little. Slow and careful. He smiled slightly and showed him absolute gratitude. "Thank you, sire.."

"Just don't let it happen again..." King Zander said in a low voice.

"I-I won't. I promise!" Kairos told him quickly, taking a step forward. A glare from King Zander made him stop and move back.

"Just make sure that you keep that promise."

King Zander leaned back and turned his head to the side. He decided it was best not to waste any more time. It was getting close to when he had planned to make Rudy and his ilk begin the next round. He needed to get started if he was going to keep up with the schedule.

Turning back to Kairos, he said, "I will need your help with something."

"What did you need...?" Kairos said softly.

King Zander smiled softly. "I need your help making things a little more...interesting for Rudy Tabootie and his little pals."

Kairos tilted his head to one side. "What did you have in mind, s-sire...?"

King Zander remained silent, opting a soft chuckle instead. He gave Kairos a certain look that told him he had something big planned. Kairos widened his eyes, and, slowly, he returned the smile.

sss

Barney couldn't believe they were back here. Here of all places. He had hoped that they would have been able to stay away longer. They all still needed rest and some of them weren't finished eating yet.

Despite that, some winged guards had come in and told them that their time was up. They had no choice but put their food down and be guided out. They were unable to fight, not while the winged guards were armed with those weapons. If they tried to resist, they would be attacked.

At least this time, they did not try to cuff them while they led them out. He guessed they were so confident they couldn't escape that they did not see the need for the cuffs. If only he had his wings, he would be able to fly out of here. He had to settle with following the guards's commands as they were led out towards the arena. For the third or fourth time, he wasn't able to remember how many, they walked out of the doors and back into the arena.

It seemed a little brighter than before. He noticed more lights were on. This meant that the power plant was getting fixed. He wondered if those injured zoners were rescued and treated yet. He didn't wonder about that too long as they were motioned towards the center of the arena. They stood there and, with glares on their faces, unwillingly waited for the king to start this new round.

Barney couldn't help but cast a worried glance over at Snap. He was awaken ow, and standing. But he was wobbly from the attack and looked unsteady. He bit his lip. He wasn't sure how well he was going to fair in this fate. It looked as if he would fall down at any second.

Turning to his old friend, he noticed King Mumbo Jumbo was not in the greatest shape either. His bandaged leg was not touching the ground as much; it hurt his friend to do so. This was going to hinder his walking, and that's not getting into running. How long would his friend be able to stay out of harm's way?

King Zander's voice cut him off, preventing him from completing his thought processes. The king had tapped against the mic, sending feedback echoing through the arena. Some of the citizens of Chalklantis covered their ears and shivered.

After the feedback was over, Zander began to speak. "I do apologize about that long break. I did not mean for it to last so long. It took longer than we thought to fix Cychreides. But here we are now, ready to continue with the battle!"

The audience around began to cheer in excitement, fully ready to witness another round of sparring. The sound of this sickened the group. They glared at one another, each expressing the same kind of disgust for this type of behavior. Rudy and Penny looked off in one direction, Snap in another, and King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney looked in another. Their expressions displayed their displeasure towards them.

None of them said a word. They wanted to, so badly. Especially Rudy. Barney could see it in his eyes that he wanted to tear them out verbally for what they've done. Penny to a lesser extent, but it was still there.

But they kept quiet, knowing that any word they say could be used against them. They could not try to argue against these people. They were stubborn and they had already made up their minds about them. They would need to figure out another way of dealing with them and getting out of here.

"For this round, I wanted to try something a little different. I know it's unorthodox, and I had never done this before." King Zander raised his hand up into the air. "But I wanted to give our...champions... a bit more of a challenge..."

The group looked at each other in confusion. What did he mean by that? Did he think that they were having an easy time? Looking around, they could see the audience members were just as perplexed by this.

King Zander did not keep them in the dark for long. "For this round, they will have two challengers. Cychreides and..." He moved his hand in one direction, indicating something in the air. "My faithful general..." Something glinted in the air. "Kairos!"

At this, the group let out a gasp of shock as Kairos dove from the sky and towards the ground. There were intermixes of hushed sounds and cheers and expressions of awe as the metal-winged bird flew down towards the center of the arena. He straightened himself up, flapped a few times, and landed in front of the group.

"Hello there..." Kairos said with a smile. He took a fighting position, hunching his body and smiling twistedly at them. "Do you...remember me..?"

Snap looked nervous due to his injuries and moved closer to Rudy and Penny. The two kids glared at Kairos as they put their hands around their friend protectively. King Mumbo Jumbo gritted his beak as he moved close to Barney, silently telling the bird to back off.

Barney felt his blood run cold as he saw Kairos standing before him again. He found himself unable to turn away as his eyes locked onto Kairos's bright orange ones. As he stared into them, the back of his mind flashed with images of Kairos's torture of him.

How he had his wings ripped and shredded...

How he had stabbed him in the wound with one of the metal feathers...

Kairos circled around them slowly, keeping his wings out and body hunched. His legs were bent, showing every indication of him leaping at them. His beak was continuously twisted in that nasty smile. He looked as if he was going to enjoy this, and Barney had no reason to believe that he wouldn't. Barney let out a soft whimper and huddled closer to King Mumbo Jumbo for protection.

King Zander spread his hoof hands outward. "Let the game...continue!"

With a loud screech, Kairos lunged at his opponents. He brought his talons outward, preparing to slice and dice. He directed his attack at Barney.


	32. Claws And Wits

No one was able to stop Kairos in time. His body slammed against the frozen, terrified centipede. The force of the impact sent Barney sprawling across the ground. Kairos landed on the ground and sneered at him for a few seconds. He did not give Barney any time to get up before he dashed forward swiftly.

Barney let out a scream as Kairos grabbed him by the face with his left foot. The talons pressed against his head. He twisted the head to one side, making the insect whimper in pain. He then thrust his face against the ground, making the zoner cough up dirt. He pulled his foot back and slammed it against Barney’s side.

And he was able to do all of that before the others had been able to help. He turned his head to see that they were only now getting close to him. This had been because Kairos moved too quickly. Everything happened so fast, they had no time to counter. And now here he stood in front of them, only a few feet away from Barney. He raised his wings up, allowing the blades to glint in the light.

Penny froze at the sight of them. She watched as King Mumbo Jumbo attempted his move against the foul bird. Rudy was moving in as well. She wanted to help, but at the moment, she was holding onto Snap and giving him support. Even if Snap didn’t need help, and wasn’t in so much pain, she wasn’t sure if she could just dash out there.

This wasn’t the same as fighting Cychreides. He was certainly dangerous, yes. But with him, they had something of a size advantage. They had a comparatively easier time dodging the dragon’s attacks.

Kairos on the other hand... He had more speed and more agility. And he was closer to their size than the dragon. This meant that, to him, they were larger targets. They would have to be a lot more careful with avoiding being attacked by him. Especially since he was likely a lot more intelligent than the dragon.

This intelligence was being shown quite perfectly as Kairos managed to side step King Mumbo Jumbo as the tortoise tried to punch him. He immediately struck him in the leg, causing him to buckle. Kairos struck him in the back with his metal feathers. This did little more than dent the shell, but the impact forced the tortoise onto his stomach.

Rudy attempted to kick the bird zoner out of desperation, an act he normally wouldn’t do otherwise. Kairos would around and looped his wing around him. Penny watched in shock as Kairos pulled a startled Rudy close to him. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her friend, especially with how his eyes lowered and his grin spread further. At least this didn’t last very long and the bird zoner immediately thrust Rudy to the side. Rudy did not give up and he charged again.

Kairos kept jumping out of the way. He would either simply jump or he would take to the air, but remain low to the ground. Rudy swung his fist at him, but the bird simply dodged it easily. Kairos wasn’t even trying to get away too fast; he was toying with Rudy, allowing him to try to punch and strike him, all the while keeping one step ahead of him. For a while, he didn’t even try to strike back himself.

Only after about a minute of him taunting Rudy by moving gracefully out of his way did Kairos hit him. He struck out with his foot and ‘backfooted’ Rudy with it, knocking him into the ground.

“Rudy!” Penny cried.

Snap began to struggle against her grasp. “We have to help him!”

“Snap, we can’t just rush in there! He might...” Penny bit her lip, not wanting to think of what could happen. She looked down at Snap. “And you’re still hurt! If you rush in there...”

Snap shot her a glare. “We either act now, or we might lose Rudy!”

Penny’s eyes widened at this. She wanted to answer, but Snap gave her no time. The zoner managed to jerk free from her. She attempted to grab Snap, but she was not fast enoug. In a matter of seconds, he was rushing towards Kairos.

Penny felt her heart skip a beat as she watched him go. She could detect a slight wobble in his gait, indicating the pain he was feeling. Snap’s expression showed he was still clearly afraid, but he wanted to face his fears to help Rudy. Penny had to admire that of Snap. It was never easy facing someone who hurt you so badly. A part of her wanted to join him and help.

But...no, she had to stay put. She had to watch Kairos first and note his attack pattern and what he does. She had to figure out a weakness they could exploit. If they all rushed in, then they would all get hurt, and soon they would not be able to fight the dragon.

The thought of the dragon make her blood run cold. When was that beast supposed to return? She looked left and right, seeing no sign of it. She wasn’t sure if King Zander was going to bring the dragon in while they were fighting Kairos, or if he was just going to allow Kairos to have his fun for a while and then bring in Cychreides when they were weak and tired from the fight.

But regardless of when the dragon was going to show up, right now, they had the issue of Kairos. For now, he was just playing with them. Other than tossing Barney around like a ragdoll, he did not make any serious attempts to hurt any of them. It was as if he was so confident he was going to win, he didn’t really take into account the possibility that he might have the situation turned against him.

Hmm...perhaps they could use that to their advantage. If they could catch this zoner off guard, just once, they might be able to stun him to the point where he can’t even fight back. He’d be too startled counter quickly enough, leaving him open for another attack. Maybe they might be able to subdue him.

Penny began to move around. She kept her distance, her eyes glued on Kairos. She could hear the cheering all around her. She hoped that none of the audience members got wise to what she was about to do and warned him. Otherwise, that could put this whole thing in jeopardy. Her making this move counted on the element of surprise.

As long as she made it quick, she may be able to succeed before anyone had a chance to warn Kairos, or before Kairos had any time to see that she was coming.

She watched in horror as Kairos struck against Snap, knocking him into the ground. The zoner let out a loud cry of pain while Kairos laughed at him. Penny gritted her teeth at this cruel treatment of her friend. She picked up the pace, moving in closer. She watched the bird intently, noting his moves, the way he struck, and she mentally recorded it in her head. She soon began to notice a pattern.

Every time Kairos was about to attack, he seemed to give slight pause, as if hesitating. She doubted that he would hesitate, and she began to think there was another reason. Perhaps his metal wings were a little heavy? And slowing him down to some degree?

Her eyes glinted. Yes, that was it. That was his weakness. If she could move in and time her attack just right, he wouldn’t be able to attack her. She just needed to keep quiet and move in closer. She hoped the others would be able to hold out long enough.

sss

Snap hissed in pain as he lutched his side. The stupid bird had managed to strike him before he had a chance to react. Now he laid on the ground, feeling just as helpless as Rudy.

He turned to look at his fallen friend. Before he had been able to arrive, Kairos had struck him again. He hit him in his broken arm, creating long gashes and tearing the makeshifit cast up. It was still on and able to support the arm, but now there were deep, bloody cuts. Rudy was curled up on the ground, whimpering in pain from it. Snap wanted to help, but he was unable to get up. He, too, had been incapacitated.

His side was burning in agony. He couldn’t even press his hand against the wound without crying out in pain. He gave involuntary shivers as he tried to cope with it. He looked up and glared at Kairos. Despite his attempts to look brave, some of his fear for the zoner seeped through, and Kairos took immediate note of that.

“What seems to be the trouble? Can’t handle a little pain?” Kairos smirked. He circled around Snap and Rudy quickly. It was almost amazing how fast he was on his toes. He folded his wings behind him like they were hands. He eyed them with a furrowed, almost curious expression. “Is feeling pain really that bad...?”

Snap stared at the zoner in shock. He tried his best not to gasp. Despite his efforts, some of it still came out. He was not able to tear his eyes away from the zoner. He kept staring at him, wondering if he had heard right.

Was Kairos joking? Why would he say something so stupid? None of the other villains they faced had ever asked such a dumb question. Why would Kairos even begin to think that... What was wrong with this guy? Was he really more messed up in the head than they ever could have imagined?

The fact that he asked such a question seemed to contradict what he had said before. Didn’t Kairos tell them that pain was the ultimate suffering? That he wanted them to wish that they were only merely trapped? Then why in the word would he ask such a stupid question? It seemed to go against what he had stated before. Unless...was there something about Kairos that they didn’t know about?

Snap looked over at Rudy. The boy likely did not hear the zoner’s words. He was still clutching his broken arm, trying to ride out the pain. Snap bit his lip at this. Poor boy’s mind must be filled to the brim with pain.

He turned to glare at Kairos. “Why the fuck would pain be good?!” He found himself snapping at him. He flinched when he saw Kairos’s eyes narrowed, but what happened next was completely unexpected.

Kairos pulled his head back and started to laugh. Not from malice or anger. But a genuine, almost light-hearted laugh. Considering what he had done to them before, this behavior was out of the blue. Kairos looked down at him, giving him something similar to a gentle smile. Yet Snap could still tell there was something off about it.

“Oh you don’t really know, do you? Well I never bothered to tell you... So I suppose I cannot blame you.” Kairos paced around in front of him for a few moments. He titled his head down, cocking it to one side. It almost reminded Snap of an owl. “After all, how could you know that I am unable to feel pain?”

Snap’s eyes widened in shock at this. “You...what...?”

Kairos’s smile became distorted. “Oh looks like the cat’s out of the bag now.” He raised his head up, turning it to one side so that he could stare at Snap with one orange eye. “But yes, you heard me right, little boy... I cannot feel physical pain.” He stretched his wings out. “Go on and strike me with your best, sharpest sword, and you will never get a scream out of me!”

Snap stared at the zoner in shock, letting this information sink in. Kairos was..unable to feel pain..? He could have a machete take off a wing and he would not feel any pain from that...? Snap felt his breathing increase rapidly. Suddenly, Kairos’s behavior was starting to make sense.

His fascination with pain, how he regards pain was the worst thing, why he had tortured Barney... It was all out of this zoner’s misguided attempt to understand pain. It was not possible for him to fully understand it. He would know that it is uncomfortable and most hate it. But he would not understand how it feels. As a result, this meant that he was even more calloused to his victims than he thought. It was one thing to understand pain and inflict it on others, but it was another to never know what pain feels like and yet still inflicting it on others for the main purpose of self satisfication and experimentation and self education. Kairos was using victims to understand pain, and he never could, so he kept on hurting...

Snap tried to hold his anger back. He tried not to snap at the zoner again. Slowly, ignoring the pain he was in, he crawled up to his feet. He gritted his teeth as he glared at the heartless zoenr. Kairos simply smiled back at him, acting as if he had said or done nothing all that horrible. Snap formed a fist with his hand, shaking it.

“Was...was that why you hurt Barney...?” Snap growled through his teeth. “You just wanted to...experiment to understand....?”

Kairos blinked at this. He looked a little surprised, as if he did not expect him to be able to put all the pieces together that fast. The smile soon returned and he gave a look that showed that he was impressed. Snap wasn’t sure how to take this.

“I see you learn well. I’m surprised. I didn’t think you could realize it that fast.” Kairos placed some of his metal feathers underneath his chin. He leaned in, giving Snap a creepy looking smile. “Would you like a...reward...?”

Snap’s eyes widened at this. He brought his fists up, preparing to fight. His panicking mind was not able to figure out how he was going to stop him if he couldn’t feel pain. Yet, he was still getting ready to defend himself as the bird zoner raised up one of his wings, spreading out his metal, glinting feathers.

Suddenly, something struck against the bird zoner. Kairos let out a grunt of surprise as he was pushed forward. He regained his footing and glared at who had grabbed onto him. “You...?!”

Snap was stunned to see Barney going up against the bird zoner. He had never expected that the centipede would go after Kairos, especially after what the zoner had done to him. He would have thought that Barney would have stayed away, perhaps help his friend up or something. He never would have thought that Barney would swallow his fear and lunge at his torture like this.

Yet here he was, holding onto the bird zoner tightly. His long, segmented body wrapped around Kairos tightly. His wings were partially pinned, only being able to move a small portion. Kairos jerked himself from side to side as he tried to get the centipede off of him. Barney was not relenting, no matter what threats he tossed at the orange zoner. Soon, Barney opened his mouth and bit down.

Kairos, however, did not even flinch. There was a momentary shocked expression, but even as blood started to seep out of his shoulder, Kairos continued to look as if he wasn’t even pricked. He glared down at Barney, whose eyes slowly widened in confusion.

“Get off of me, you stupid bug!” Kairos raised his foot up and kicked backwards. The claws raked against Barney’s side. The centipede let out a scream and his grip on the bird loosened. Kairos took this chance to toss Barney off. He glared down at him and said, “You...need to pick your battles more wisely...”

Barney scrambled to his feet. His body trembled. “How... How is it that you...?”

Kairos gritted his bronze beak. “I cannot feel physical pain...” He raised his wings up as he stared intently at Barney. “But I know you can...” His smile grew dark as he let out a low chuckle. “Maybe you need something else torn off. How about one of your legs..?”

“No..please..” Barney waved his hand out in front of him in desperation. “I...”

But Kairos did not listen. He immediately took charge, racing towards him with an insane grin on his face. Barney scrambled to get back, but it was clear that he was not going to be able to dodge this attack.

Not unless someone intervened.

Kairos was so focused on going after Barney, he did not notice that King Mumbo Jumbo had gotten back up. He didn’t notice that the king was ignoring his own pain and charging towards him, choosing a strategic point to cut him off.

Snap watched this intently. His eyes bulged as the tortoise rammed against Kairos, knocking him into the ground. He watched as King Mumbo Jumbo let out a howl of pain as his leg was bent, damaging it further. Snap couldn’t stifle his gasp of horror as Kairos struck him with the back of his foot, forcing the old tortoise on his back. Kairos then pinned him down, putting his full weight on him, his claws pressing against the shell firmly.

King Mumbo Jumbo immediately retracted his head and limbs, pulling them in the safety of his shell. Kairos let out a squawk of surprise at this and he began to furiously peck at the shell’s openings.

“Going to hide from me?! Is this how the king of the jungle reacts to threats?! What a joke! You’re just a joke!” Kairos wailed at him as he desperately tried to claw him out. He pecked at the openings, occassionally grabbing the edge of one of the openings in his beak, as if he thought that he could break off a piece. “Surface dwellers must be stupider than I thought if they allowed a weak coward like yourself take over!”

Snap was about to rush over towards King Mumbo Jumbo to help him when he heard a groan behind him. He rushed over and looped his arm around Rudy’s unbroken arm and helped him up.

“What happened...?”

“Take it easy, Bucko.” Snap told him softly. “Don’t move too quickly. You’re injured.”

Rudy looked at Snap with an exhausted, pain-tinged expression. He let out a moan and then turned his head to look around. Upon seeing King Mumbo Jumbo’s predicament, he started to move himself forward. “We...have to help him...!”

Snap pulled him back. “I’ll do it! You stay here!”

Rudy stared at him with a confused expression. “You’re injured, too.”

“I’m...fine...” Snap flinched as he felt a rush of pain go through him. “Now stay here and...”

A loud scream behind them caught their attention. They looked over and gasped in shock and horror as they saw that Kairos had managed to grab onto one of the tortoise’s arms. He had yanked it out, keeping it firmly pressed in his sharp, metallic beak. The tortoise was struggling to get free, pushing against Kairos’s head, clawing at him. But the lack of pain sensation caused the tortoise’s moves to go roughly unnoticed by Kairos, who began to drag him back.

Barney, who had gotten up from his attack, had begun to run over towards him. He did not get far when Kairos took notice of him. With a dark smile, he lifted the tortoise into the air and tossed him towards Barney, causing a rip to appear along his arm. The tortoise screamed as he crashed into his friend. The two rolled across the ground and landed in a heap on the floor.

Kairos stared at them for a few seconds. Then, looking bored of toying with them, he turned to face Snap and Rudy. The cheers of the zoners all around them continued, seeming to compliment Kairos’s present expression.

“Hmph.. I would have thought you lot would have put up a better fight. I suppose I asked too much..” Kairos began to walk towards the two boys. “Oh well, maybe you just need more of a...motivation?” He flexed his metal claws in front of him. “Like say... Maybe if I threaten to cut off one of your legs slowly...would you fight better then...?”

Rudy and Snap glared at him, but they could not hide their expressions of fear. They involuntarily took a step back. Snap flinched as he felt the pain in his side increase. He wasn’t sure how well he was going to be able to fight with this wound. Yet he was still compelled, still driven, to at least try.

He tried to ignore the disgusting cheers all around him. He tried to ignore the fact that these zoners actually think this is a form of entertainment. He focused his eyes on Kairos. He scanned around him as he tried to figure out an opening, some way he could knock him off his feet and give them more time to prepare.

But with most of them injured in some way, how were they going to be able to dodge this guy for long? Kairos was clearly holding back, and who is to say he’ll do that for long? Unless they figured out something soon, they were toast.

It was then that Snap took notice of a shape moving behind Kairos. He leaned his head to one side, staring intently. Was...was that Penny...?

To his horror and guilt, Kairos realized what he was doing. He immediately turned his head and saw Penny. The girl froze in her tracks, her eyes bulging. She stared at Snap, giving him something of an accusatory look, before looking back at Kairos. The bird smiled at her before raising his wing and swatting her to the ground.

“Penny!” Rudy howled in horror. He tried to move forward. Snap had to hang onto him to keep him from getting too close.

“So clever you think you are. But you wouldn’t last for long against me I’m afraid.” Kairos placed his foot on her body. His talons pressed against her soft belly, threatening to pierce it. “You know... It is quite a shame you aren’t a zoner. You don’t get to experience things the way I do. And...I don’t get to experience you...”

Snap felt his heart clench at that statement. He had no idea just what this guy was alluding to, but he did know that it was nothing good. As Kairos reached down and began to trace his very sharp metal wing tip along her cheek, Snap looked left and right, trying to find something that could help.

sss

Penny grabbed onto the bird zoner’s leg and tried to pry him off of her. He was so heavy, despite being a bird. She kept on pushing and pulling, but all she could manage to do was nearly ripping her arm from the socket. She stopped trying, but she did not take her glare off of him. She gritted her teeth.

“Experience me...?” Penny formed a fist with her hand. “How about you experience this!” She attempted to strike out against him. Kairos turned his head to the side, allowing Penny to miss. She clenched her teeth at this.

Kairos chuckled at her vain efforts. “You really don’t know when to quit, do you?” He tilted his head to one side. “Well I do admire that about you. Sometimes the feisty ones are the most fun to break and toy with.”

Penny seethed at this. “Lives are not some kind of game for you!”

“I know that. I am fully aware.” Kairos waved his wing dismissively. “It is not their lives I toy with.” He grinned. “It’s their bodies, and their mind.”

“That’s the same thing!” Penny cried.

“If you say so.” Kairos shook his head, shutting his eyes. “Besides, the only thing I am interested in is pain. Pain is...quite fascinating to me. I do not understand why people hate it so much. Is it not just another form of touch? Like a pressure?” He lowered his head closer to her, his bronze beak soon inches away from her face. “Or is it something special? Maybe you can help me?”

Penny glared nervously at this. She recalled that Kairos had stated that he could not feel physical pain. The thought had sent a chill up her spine and caused her to reevaluate a lot of things the zoner had done and said. It put him in a new perspective, and it wasn’t one that she was liking very much.

She tried not to think about it too much as she focused on the bird zoner before her. So far, he hadn’t tried too much to hurt her. But she knew that would change in a heart beat. She had to think of a way to get out of here and fast.

Her mind raced as she struggled to figure out a way. She did not show it, but she was actually feeling a lot of fear right now, which was preventing her from fighting back affectively, or remembering how she had gotten close to Kairos. She felt some anger towards Snap for giving her away, and yet she knew that he did not mean it. It wasn’t like she could have told him before. She shouldn’t focus on her anger towards him too much; she had to keep all of her focus on Kairos.

The zoners around were still reacting positively to what was happening. She had tried to ignore them before, but now it was getting really hard to do that. Their voices had grown louder and they practically echoed in her mind. She tried to shake it off, but they bounced inside her skull constantly.

Kairos noticed her discomfort. “I see the audience members are enjoying this. How cute...” He raised his head up higher, opening his mouth partially to let his tongue slip out and lick along his metallic beak. “I suppose we’re all the same in some ways...”

“I’m not like you!” Penny shouted at him.

“Oh but you are...” Kairos laughed at her. “You killed the manticore, did you not?”

Penny felt her blood turn to ice at this comment. In the back of her head, she could see images of herself striking the manticore in the neck, and how it fell into the ground right after. Its dead body still infected her mind, and she was not able to look away.

She shook her head. No, she couldn’t allow this insane zoner psyche her out like that. She had to keep her focus. She could not let her emotions control her. She glared at him, baring her teeth. All instinct was telling her to try to bite him, but she knew that it would do no good if he couldn’t feel it.

Kairos raised his wings above him, allowing himself to balance on one leg. Penny grunted as she felt the bird’s full weight being pushed on her. He then raised his other foot into the air. He flexed his toes and talons above her head. Penny looked up, trying her best to hide her fear as the talons were positioned over her head. She could see the sharp tips of the talons very clearly and as Kairos stretched his toes out, poised to strike, Penny shut her eyes and waited for the blow.

Suddenly, Kairos gave a jerk as something struck against him. Penny gasped in shock when she saw it was Snap. The blue zoner had his arms wrapped around Kairos’s neck, holding on tightly.

Kairos remained still, unaffected by what Snap was doing. He merely turned his pupils down and stared at the small blue boy. “Are you really that eager for more? I thought you had enough before.” Kairos flung his head to the side, forcing Snap to crash into the ground. “Of course, you want another round, I don’t mind.”

“Snap! No!” Penny struggled to get up. She struck against the zoner’s leg repeatedly. “Leave him alone!”

Kairos gave her a downwards glance. “Eh..okay. I am flexible.” Kairos pressed his claws against her. Penny yelped as she felt the claws nearly break her skin. “I can always try a bite of your friend later.” At this, his eyes glinted with insanity.

Penny took in a sharp gasp of air at this. She could feel her blood turning to ice at this comment. This zoner...he was...going to eat her friend... This registered in her mind painfully and she could feel her body start to shake. Were there no lengths that this monster wouldn’t go?

She began to struggle against him. She resumed striking him. Yes, it did no good, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t allow him to have a chance at her friend. She did whatever she could to keep his attention on her in case he had changed his mind. The bird zoner did not seem bothered by her efforts, and seemed to, in fact, enjoy them. She tried not to cringe as Kairos raised his foot in the air and prepared to strike her. The foot came down. Penny involuntarily let out a scream.

A loud clang rang through the air. Penny opened her eyes to see that the zoner’s talons were stopped by something long, thin, and metal. Her eyes trailed up the metal thing to see where it originated. She let out a gasp when she saw Rudy standing there.

“R-Rudy...?” Penny whispered.

Kairos looked down, gritting his beak. “You come in at the most annoying time. You could not choose a better one?” He was about to say something else when something clearly caught his eye. “I-Is that...?”

Penny looked at where Kairos was and she saw that it was one of Kairos’s metal feathers. The sight of this shocked Penny. How did this happen? When? She looked from Rudy’s face, to the metal feather, and then to the space on Kairos’s wing. She saw there was a small, bloody hole there now. Penny quickly began to piece the puzzle together.

Rudy had taken advantage of Kairos’s lack of pain sensation. This had allowed him to yank out one of his feathers quickly without Kairos noticing. Snap...he must have been the distraction. Rudy must have done it then, while Kairos was too busy shaking off his friend to notice a small pressure on his wing.

Kairos looked surprised by this turn of events as well. He stared at Rudy, his eyes mostly focusing on the metal feather. His metal feather... Soon, Kairos’s face contorted in anger and some of his feathers started to fluff up. “That was mine! How dare you steal it from me!” He yelled in rage. He released Penny as he struck at Rudy with his left wing. The boy barely managed to dodge. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

Rudy hissed in pain, his teeth clenched in fear. He nodded his head slowly, holding the metal feather out in front of him protectively. “I... am protecting my...friends...”

“Rudy!” Penny rushed towards Kairos to try to stop him.

The bird zoner did not allow this. He turned himself around and rammed his head against her chest and stomach. She screamed as she was sent flying across the arena. She landed in the ground with a loud thud, a cough, and a wheeze. The dust blinded her for a few moments. When she was able to see again, she looked over and watched what was going on.

Rudy was fighting Kairos... He was holding the bottom part of the metal feather. There was a stem that could be used as a handle. Rudy held it up and used it to block Kairos’s attacks. Again and again, the bird zoner would strike at him, with either his talons or his remaining metal feathers. Each time, it resulted in a clang that echoed across the arena.

Penny took in a few shaky breaths. How long was Rudy going to be able to hold out? She could see that Kairos was trying to attack his broken arm. Rudy was thus far able to defend it. But that wouldn’t last forever.

Suddenly a cold thought went through her mind. Her eyes bulged in realization.

Where was the dragon...?

As soon as she thought this, there was a loud thud. Then another, and another. Everyone stopped, including Rudy. Well almost everything. Kairos took advantage of this distraction and struck him with his wing. Rudy watched in horror was Rudy was slammed against his broken arm.

Kairos cackled as Penny and Snap rushed to their friend’s side. Penny knelt down beside her friend while Snap stood beside her, staring down worriedly at Rudy. Penny grabbed onto him gently and pulled him so that he rested against her lap.

King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney, who had finally recovered from their blows, had moved towards them, the tortoise’s limp looking much worse than before. They stared at the children, and then turned their heads towards the sound of the rumbling. Their faces paled in horror. They knew, they all knew, they were about to get into huge trouble.

With a loud, mechanical roar, Cychreides burst through the door. The crowd cheered louder with his appearance. The beast moved swiftly forward, its claws clanging against the ground with each step, its tail wriggling eagerly behind it.

The group huddled together as the beast moved in even closer, and then arched its body around to almost encircle them with how long its body was. It stared at them intently. Despite its eyes being made of glass and metal, it seemed to portray a sense of recognition in them, as if it remembered what they had done to it. It moved its one leg more cautiously than before. They recognized it as the same one that they had broken before.

Kairos jumped into the air, taking flight. He began to fly circles around the arena, his body tilted sideways. After his third spin around the place, he dove down towards the dragon and landed on top of its head. He took position there, his claws ripping into grooves in the head, likely designed for such a thing. Kairos moved his wing outward, and gave a single cry. The dragon obeyed and began to move forward.

The group, including Rudy who was on his feet now, backed up slowly. Rudy, despite his pain and trembling, raised the metal feather up in front of him. The sight of this must have looked so pathetic to Kairos and Cychreides.

At first, all the pair did was circle them. The metal dragon’s heavy footsteps seemed to fuse well with their pounding hearts, which threatened to jump out of their chests. They kept their eyes on them, not daring to look away, their eyes refusing to leave.

Penny did not like the way Kairos was looking at them. He had a sneer, but it was worse than the others. It seemed to have hidden promises behind it, as if he was threatening to do something worse than ever before. The thought of that chilled her blood, causing goosebumps to raise through her arms. The thought of this zoner doing worse than what he had already done was not something she could fathom. Yet, given his personality, she would not put it past him.

Soon, the dragon stopped, taking position in front of them. Penny and the others arched their backs and tightened the muscles in their legs as they prepared to run. But at first, Cychreides did nothing except stare at them, and Kairos made no attempt to speak to them.

But all of that changed in a heartbeat.

Despite being prepared, the group was still taken off guard as the dragon suddenly swung its tail out. The tail, now armed with a large spear-like hook that must have been added during repairs, struck the ground near where they had originally stood. The sharp tip clumped at the ground, scratching it.

Penny took in several quick breaths as she stared at the others in shock. They had narrowly missed getting hit then, but how long would they be able to keep this up?

Penny got her answer in the worse way possible.

Without warning, the pressure of the dragon’s claws wrapped around her body. She was hoisted high into the air. She let out a scream of surprise and began to struggle, her ams pinned at her sides.

“Penny!” Snap shouted as he started to limp towards the dragon.

“Let our friend go!” Rudy exclaimed, holding up his metal feather as if that would intimidate them enough to let go.

“Hold it!” Kairos immediately took to the air and dashed towards Penny. He hoved next to her. “Do not make an unplanned or hasty move. Otherwise...” He pressed a metal finger against her throat. He was careful not to apply too much pressure, but Penny still flinched as she felt a slight knick in her neck. “I will be forced to take...certain liberties with the girl...”

Penny stiffened in horror at this. Down below, she could see the others were horrified as well, neither daring to move for fear of quickening her death. She couldn’t help but moving her head to stare at Kairos the best she could, her face laced in fear. What were they going to do now?

sss

King Zander watched the spectacle in silence. He had no smile on his face, just a blank expression. He looked like he wasn’t feeling anything. But in truth, there were many thoughts running through his mind at the moment.

He had known that putting Kairos in the arena would have made things more interesting. But he had no idea it would be this big of a turn out. Kairos had spent most of the time fighting alone. King Zander permitted him to be alone in the arena with them for a little while longer as he was curious as to what he could accomplish.

He had performed quite well. In fact...it was a little too good. King Zander couldn’t help but feel a level of disappointment. He had hoped that Rudy and his friends could hold up better. Then again, that was his fault for sending his general, who had fought before. Perhaps he was being a little unfair with that.

Oh well. Things didn’t always turn out the way one wanted, and he was just going to have to live with that. He allowed the dragon to approach and now Kairos had them cornered. With a single step forward, the bird was going to slice their friend’s throat.

King Zander considered allowing this to continue. His citizens loved it, and it would be nice to finally be rid of those little fools. He could move forward his plans to go to the surface, instead of having to keep waiting. He would not go up there until he took care of that captive group. Especially Rudy and Penny. Their status as creators would complicate things too much for his liking.

But he soon gave pause to this. He thought back to how Rudy and Penny had drawn something using the tiny pieces he had Kairos give them. He remembered feeling impressed by what they could accomplish with so much pressure and so little to work with. Perhaps...he could see it again.

He would be prolonging things, yes. But there was nothing in the proposed plan that said he couldn’t do this. There was nothing wrong with a little fun. Besides, Kairos and Cychreides could easily crush them afterwards. And it wasn’t like they could draw too much; his winged guards were armed and would be able to electrocute them when he felt it was time to stop them.

King Zander decided to act now, before his general made any hasty decisions. He raised up his hand, his other gripping the mic.

“Hold up, General Kairos!” At this, Kairos loosened his grip on Penny and turned his attention to the king. “I have an idea...”

Everyone in the arena, minus Cychreides who was keeping an eye on the group, turned and looked up at King Zander. He gave pause for a few moments, letting himself figure out what he was going to do. Soon, after he was able to collect his thoughts, he motioned towards the one-armed boy and began to speak.

“Rudy Tabootie... I have decided that I will...give you a sporting chance...” King Zander watched as the expressions around him became confused and uncertain. Then they turned into utter shock as he raised up a piece of magic chalk. A full piece; not a fragment like before. “Do you...” He leaned his head forward, his ears pricking up. “...want this...?”

Rudy and the others remained silent as they continued to stare in shock. Murmurs occurred all around him. King Zander ignored them as he focused on the group, waiting for an answer.


	33. The Struggle Against The Machine

Kairos stared at this in shock. He couldn’t believe what the king had just suggested. Had he gone mad? Everything had been going just fine. He had them right where he wanted them. Why would the king decide to now give the boy a piece of magic chalk?

It just didn’t make any sense. King Zander had mentioned before how he wanted to destroy those three. Rudy, Penny, and Snap. He had nearly gotten his wish. Kairos would have slit Penny’s throat open even if the group hadn’t moved forward. Then he would have had the dragon crush the two creators. Then they’d have nothing to fear from the surface.

So why in the world would King Zander decide to give Rudy a sporting chance? Why would he give him a piece of magic chalk? Did he not know how crazy that sounded? And a full piece, too... King Zander was absolutely insane.

Kairos wanted to protest. He wanted to shout at the king and make him stop. He wanted to knock some sense into him and make him realize just what he was doing. He needed King Zander to understand that, by doing this, he was allowing Rudy a chance of victory. A chance of escape. If he succeeds... Then their whole plan can just be washed down the toilet. Oh why couldn’t King Zander see what kind of fool he was being?

He remained silent, however. He did not dare speak against the king. He knew that King Zander did not react too will if someone directly opposed his ideas. Expressing concern was one thing, but to outright state that he was wrong, and that his plan was stupid... That would certainly land him some jail time. That was time that Kairos was not willing to serve himself.

So all he could do was accept this. He still had Cychreides, and he still had his speed, even if he was sometimes partially delayed by his metal wings. He could try to attack from behind or something, preventing them from using the chalk and...

His eyes brightened up. It wouldn’t be so bad, he realized. He just had to be smarter about his attacks. They couldn’t use the magic chalk if they had damage done to their arms, and only two of them could use the magic chalk. This meant he only had two targets to worry about. Rudy and Penny. All he would have to do is slash up their arms, even break them, or gouge out their palms, and then they would be defenseless.

Suddenly, King Zander’s plan didn’t seem so crazy after all. Perhaps he was doing this as a way of crushing their hope. The magic chalk is the one thing that gave them all the most hope of success. If they gave it to them, and then damaged their arms, they could crush their spirts and destroy their last remaining hope of getting out. Without that magic chalk, they were weakened, and easily restrained.

Kairos did his best to hide his darkened smile. He tried to keep his face as straight as possible. He turned his head and watched the group down below him. He wondered what they were going to decide.

sss

Rudy couldn’t tear his eyes away from the piece of chalk. He watched as King Zander waved it a little, taunting him. King Zander’s words kept echoing in his head.

“Do you want this?”

Rudy wanted to say yes, but he remained silent. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of trick. It didn’t seem like King Zander to just hand a piece of chalk towards him. What would motivate him to do something like this?

Then he remembered about the idea that he and the others discussed before. The possibility that King Zander had been dropping off pieces of chalk before. He narrowed his eyes at the memory of that discussion, and at the memories of what happened before. He recalled all the trouble they had gone through and how they found tiny pieces of chalk just...laid there, like it was some kind of game.

King Zander was just toying with them. He wasn’t doing this out of any kindness in his heart. He just wanted to play with them a little more. He wanted to prolong this, their suffering. In that case, Rudy was tempted to say no. He did not want to be some toy for this king to wield.

But...would that be a smart choice? They were doing okay without the chalk, but the tides had turned swiftly. They were lucky with Cychreides last time, and this time around, the dragon was not going to go easy on them. It would be more careful and not allow them to pull another stunt like that. They would need a new plan, which is not something that they had right now.

Perhaps it was best to take the chalk. Even if the king didn’t really have good intentions for giving one to them, it would give them a fighting chance. He could snap off a piece and give one to Penny so she could defend herself as well. It would certainly be nice having magic chalk again. He and Penny felt so vulnerable wandering around here with no magic chalk. It felt like they were walking through an armed, enemy territory without wearing any armor or camouflage.

Although he knew it was against his better judgment, Rudy decided to take the chance anyway. He straightened himself up and took a step forward. He stared at the magic chalk for a few seconds, and then turned to stare directly into King Zander’s deep brown eyes.

“I accept.”

This caused King Zander to smirk. His friends, on the other hand, reacted in shock.

“Rudy! What are you doing, Bucko?!” Snap raised his hands in the air. “You can’t accept that! He is trying to trick you!”

“Did you forget how he tricked us into using the magic chalk, which I may remind you, was ultimately part of a scheme to spread more slander about us?” Penny pointed out. The dragon had recently dropped her and now she had rejoined him.

Barney nodded. “It might not be wise to take it.”

King Mumbo Jumbo remained silent. His expression wasn’t in full agreement or disagreement. Rudy guessed that the tortoise was at a crossroads. Too neutral to really speak up. Rudy did nothing to press an answer out of him.

Rudy turned his head to the others. He lowered his head, his eyelids partially closing. “Yes, I know it’s a risk. But...”

“But what?” Penny looked at him in confusion. “If you know it’s dangerous, why would you..”

“Because it’s the best chance that we’ve got!” Rudy cut her off. He paused for a moment, realizing just how he had sounded there. He cleared his throat and spoke in a gentler voice, “Look, we don’t have much of a choice. King Zander and his general have us trapped. We were only really lucky to have stopped the dragon before, but we could not escape. This may be our only chance.”

Penny and Snap looked at each other. Barney expressed uncertainty. King Mumbo Jumbo put a finger against his chin thoughtfully, yet remained silent.

Snap stared up at Rudy, then he flinched in the pain he was in. After a quick, pain-filled shudder, he looked up at Rudy and held his hand out in gesture. “I get what you’re saying, Rudy. But this king guy... He might have something figured out. You won’t be able to draw an escape with...”

“That’s because I won’t.” Rudy told him. This surprised the others. He shut his eyes. “I’m not stupid. I know full well that he would take precautions so we can’t escape. So...I’ll just figure out another way.”

“What did you have in mind?” Barney asked cautiously.

Rudy tried to answer, but then he realized that he had none. He didn’t really think this through completely. He couldn’t help but grit his teeth nervously. Without a plan, he really was jumping in this blind. Coming up with a plan would take time.

And time wasn’t something they had right now.

King Zander seemed to grow irritated by their silence. “Well? Aren’t you going to take it?”

Rudy looked up and saw that King Zander was holding the magic chalk out. It was pressed between two fingersa nd it looked like the king would drop it any second. Rudy turned back to his friends. He opened his mouth to speak, but soon shut it. Then he started to move towards the magic chalk, underneath where King Zander had positioned himself. He held up his hand.

King Zander’s smile returned. He dropped the magic chalk down. “I think I can count on you to make this more interesting...right?”

Rudy glared at the king, not bothering to give an answer. He then looked down at the piece of magic chalk. He let it rest on his palm. For a brief moment, he felt empowered, but then he reminded himself of the situation they were in. He clutched the chalk, glared at the king one more time, and then made his way towards his friends.

Rudy pressed the chalk against his chest. He ignored the pain as he applied pressure, bending the chalk at an angle. Soon there was a crack and about half the piece was sent flying away. It landed in the ground not too far.

Gesturing his head towards the piece, Rudy said, “There, Penny. That is your piece.”

Penny stared at him in surprise. She turned her head towards the slighty dirtied piece of chalk and walked towards it. She lowered herself and picked it up. She held it in her hands, and then stared over at Rudy, as if to ask him if he was certain about this. Rudy responded with a smile.

Kairos stepped in. “Okay, so you have your chalk pieces now!” He glared at them, his eyes twinkling with eagerness. “Are you going to get back in this fight or are you going to stand there like a bunch of idiots?”

Rudy glared up at the bird zoner along with his friends. They clenched their fists tightly and growled softly. No surprise, Kairos hardly responded to this. He just continued to glare at them, looking almost disgusted by them.

Rudy looked back at the others. Despite their nervousness and uncertainty, despite knowing that it might be a trap, they all looked a little more confident now that they had magic chalk on their side. For once, they felt more evently matched.

Rudy knew that he and Penny had to be careful what they drew. So long as they created things that didn’t look too bad and would not allow their escape, they should be fine. And if they timed it right, he and Penny might be able to draw something that could help them. He still wasn’t sure what they could draw, and it was hard to think with the pain pounding in his head. But he was certain that, if they tried hard enough, they would think of something.

For now, they had a little song and dance to do with Kairos and Cychreides. He could see that both were looking rather wrestless. The dragon wanted to crush them and Kairos wanted to shred them. Rudy wondered how long they would be able to hold back before one of them made a move. Likely not long. He and his friends would have to make a move now, before their impatience caused them to lash out without any sort of plan.

Rudy took a step forward and held up his magic chalk. Penny joined him at his side. She limped slightly from the fall earlier, but she still managed to keep herself from falling down. She, too, held up her chalk, showing that she was ready to fight.

“Bring it on.”

Kairos’s smile grew twisted at this. “Gladly...”

The fight had resumed.

sss

Cychreides did not take its eyes away from its targets. It waited on command, wondering when its superior was going to give the word to go. How long must it wait here before it would finally attack?

It remembered these four. Its computer mind zapped many thoughts in its head, and it was able to rewatch, in great detail, what happened to it before. It remembered the trap. It remembered how its foot was stuck and how it had broken. It remembered how it felt like it was helpless and could not defend itself.

None of that will happen this time. It had already done the calculations in its mind. These targets would not be able to escape it this time, nor would they get another chance like that. It readied its tail, preparing itself to strike at them. It would spear them before any of them had a chance to get within range. It would defend itself. It was not interested in revenge; just preserving itsef so it would not get damaged again.

Its vision was mostly shades of red, with black lines that moved about, allowing it to focus on one individual, then another. It placed these black lines over one of the targets. It flashed and formed into a rectangle, and his zoom feature was activated. In seconds, information began to get displayed at the side. The metal dragon took its time to read.

Target 1 had a broken arm and some gashes. This increased the probability of its success over him around fifty percent, if not more. Even more so if it managed to break the other arm. This boy appeared to use his right hand more for drawing. If it were to take that away, it would weaken him.

Cychreides’s computer mind whirred loudly in its skull as it processed each target one by one. To it, it might have taken several minutes, but in reality, its swiftness allowed the analysis to be complete in just a few seconds.

Target 2 was the least injured. She would be problematic. The worst she has is a slight limp. She would be its biggest concern. It would need to focus on her. Out of all of them, she was the one who would be the hardest to deal with. She was a creator and, judging from its scans, quite smart, too. Take her out, the rest may fall.

Target 3 had a gash in its side. Cychreides recalled this was because it blasted him with one of its attacks. It grazed his side, but from what it could see in its analysis, the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Target 3 might still be a threat, but at least it had a large weak spot that couldn’t be missed.

Then there was Target 4. The centipede appeared to have a mental problem. A predatory side that was reawakened. Perhaps it could take advantage of this..? Turn it against Target 3 if possible. It used to have wings, judging from the gashes on his back. With them removed, the centipede was an easier target.

Finally, Target 5. His leg had been badly damaged, and he had a worse limp than Target 2. It could easily charge towards him and take care of him. The old tortoise would not be able to get out of the way in time. If it could weed him out from the others, it could crush him and that would reduce their numbers.

No... It needed to focus on Target 2. Then it could take care of the other targets. That was the best way to ensure its victory and self-preservation.

It had no idea why it was in the arena, or why its superiors wanted to do this. Frankly, it did not care. When it is brought in the arena, it asks no questions. It was not programmed for such things. All it knows how to do is obey and listen. It didn’t care whether or not its superiors were right or wrong. Such moral standards did not apply to it. The only thing that was important to it was self preservation and obedience. Nothing else mattered.

It soon heard a simple word, yet powerful command.

“Attack.”

Immediately, Cychreides struck its tail outward. It could hear the loud clanging as its blade hit against the ground. All five targets moved out of the way. Cychreides gave moment of pause. It was a little surprised at how fast they were able to move. Impressive for their injuries. Yet, according to its calculations, it will not be good enough for them.

Cychreides took a few steps forward, lowering its head. It opened up its mouth and let out a mighty roar. This had the intended effect of paralyzing the group in fear. It would not be for long. A split second. But a split second was all that it really needed.

It lifted up its recently repaired leg. It could hear the whirs and cracks of the mechanical parts moving inside, allowing it to raise up its heavy leg. It arched its claws and stared down at its intended target, the second one. It struck down.

It would seem it miscalculated a little. It did not expect Target 3 to overcome his pain to Target 2 out of the way. Hmm...a bit of recalculation was required. It made a memo inside its memory bank that it may have to recalculate more often than it thought. These targets might change their strategies on the fly. That was how they had managed to overcome it before.

So it would just have to change with them.

It could hear them speaking. It cared not what they said. It took this momentary pause for another chance to strike. It swatted at them with its paw. It hit them both. It watched as the targets were flung across the ground. The metal dragon watched them for a few moments. It would have moved to attack further, but it heard something not far from it. The dragon turned its head and it could see that Target 1 was coming towards it, waving that sparkly white stick.

Cychreides widened its eyes as it knew what this meant. If it allowed this boy to create anything, then its probability of success would diminish. It needed to do something now or...

Commander 2 had already taken action. The metallic-winged bird that was hovering near its head had taken action. He dove down towards the boy and tried to strike out with its talons. He slashed in the air, missing entirely. It seemed to be on purpose.

At first, Cychreides could not understand the logic behind this attack. Why would Commander 2 do something like this? Then its computer brain was able to make the calculations that told it what was going on. Commander 2 was making Target 1 back up. The sudden fake attacks made him lose his footing and he fell down. Hmm, that was clever, but not the most effecient way to take care of things.

It watched for a few moments as Target 1, Target 4, and Target 5 tried to confront Commander 2. With Commander 2’s skill, and Target 1’s white stick and two allies, the fight may very well be even. A part of Cychreides was interested in watching, but its computer mind was telling it to take care of Target 2 and Target 3 while they were separated.

Leaving Commander 2 to his work, Cychreides made its way over towards where the remaining two targets were. It watched with its red-tinted vision as Target 3 helped Target 2 back up. Cychreides did not want to give them any chance to react and it broke off into a run.

Another miscalculation. In that brief moment, Cychreides had forgotten that its heavy body caused the ground to shake. Now both targets were aware of its approach.

Well nothing it can do about that now. It needed to complete the attack. It continued its chase towards the targets. If it kept on moving fast enough, it would be able to take them out before Target 2 could create anything. It could see her raise the white stick now. It needed to hurry up.

No, its calculations were telling it that it would not be able to make it over in time. Target 2 was already drawing something. It could not tell what it was, but its calculations told it that it would be something that would be used to stop it. It could not allow itself to get hindered. It would need to react.

And that’s just what it did. It opened up its metallic mouth and it shot out another energy blast from its mouth. This made the two targets jump to the side. That bought some time for it. Now to make sure they don’t have another chance. It moved in closer and raised up its sharp-clawed foot. It only hesitated a second, making sure that it positioned its paw in the right place. Then it struck down.

sss

“Snap!” Penny looked up, her eyes wide in terror. “Look out!”

Snap barely had time to respond or fully register what Penny was saying before the girl had grabbed onto him. She yanked on him and pulled him back. He let out a cry of surprise and pain as he was forced back, irritating his side injury in the process.

His skin crawled as he felt the heat of a familiar blast behind him. He turned his hand and saw a charred mark in the ground. He took in a few shaky breaths. He knew exactly what that had meant: he nearly got blasted again...

He looked up at the dragon. Its mouth was still open. He could see some steam coming out of the sides of its mouth, indicating that it had just recently used its attack. At first, the dragon just stood there, as if a little exhausted from the attack. Then it slowly turned its head, its robotic eyes gleaming and staring down at him.

Snap froze, unable to move. He wondered what the dragon was going to do next. Was it going to fire another shot? Was it going to charge? ...why wasn’t it moving at all...? It was looking right at him, wasn’t it? Why was...

Wait, no.. It wasn’t looking at him. The way its head was positioned, it was looking over at Penny. Snap’s eyes bulged in horror at this. He immediately turned his head and started over at Penny, who was looking at him in concern and looking him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Snap did not say a word, staring from her and then to the dragon that stood only a few feet away.

Snap immediately pushed Penny away. “Buckette, you have to get out of here! The dragon...it’s after you!”

Penny’s eyes widened in horror at this. She bit her lip and then she said, “But..Snap... I can’t leave you. I refuse to turn my back on you.”

Snap looked at her, his eyes filling with worry. “Please, Penny. You have to run.” He motioned a hand to himself. “I will distract it.”

Penny shook her head. “No. You’re too badly hurt. You will stand no chance.”

Snap hated that they were wasting time. The only reason they were holding out now was because the dragon decided to wait. Yet he knew that wasn’t a good thing. Cychreides must be calculating which one of them to attack first, or figuring out any possible escape route and blocking them. They needed to figure a way to counter and fast.

“Penny, please don’t argue... We will be safer if we split up.” Snap motioned to one side. “You run that way...” Snap than made a swift gesture with his head. “And I will go that way.”

“Snap...” Penny whispered.

“Giving the metal creepazoid here two directions to go in will increase the odds for one of us, and it will force the dragon to choose.” Snap put a hand on her arm. “It is our safest bet, Penny. Just...trust me...”

Penny stared at him for a few moments. Slowly, she nodded her head, caving into his idea. Snap smiled, glad that she finally seemed to understand. Penny said not a word as she began to limp in one direction. The dragon looked towards her. Snap threw a rock at it, making the dragon turn in his direction. Snap began to run off in another direction, hoping the dragon would choose him and not his friend.

The dragon stood there for a few moments, as if trying to decide which way to go. It seemed rather puzzled and uncertain. Its tail swished from side to side, its head looking from him and then to Penny, clearly conflicted on where to go. The audience around was booing and trying to make the dragon do something.

And soon it did.

To Snap’s horror, the dragon had chosen Penny as its target. It moved its body around gracefully despite its size. It began to charge towards Penny, each bound covering so much space that it would reach Penny in a matter of seconds.

“No!” Snap cried in horror. He rushed forward. He seethed and crumpled to the ground as he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his side. He grabbed his side carefully, noting the blood that still leaked from it. He stared at it for a few seconds and then scrambled to his feet. “Leave her alone!” He continued running towards the dragon.

In front of him, he could see the tail wriggling from side to side. Snap watched it, unable to take his eyes away from it. It was almost like a hypnotic pendulum. He shook his head, and then grabbed onto the tail, thankfully avoiding the sharp blade hooked at the end. Snap slipped and nearly fell off. He managed to hold on tightly and then, slowly, he began to work his way up the dragon’s body.

sss

Rudy looked over and saw that Penny was being chased by Cychreides. His heart clenched at this. There was no way she would be able to get out of the way in time. And to add to his horror, he saw that Snap was climbing on the dragon despite his injuries. He tried to make a move towards them, but Kairos had immediately jumped in his path.

“Nice try, creator...” Kairos sneered at him. “But you cannot interfere with Cychreides’s playtime.” Rudy growled at this, which caused Kairos to laugh. “But not to worry... I have plenty of time to play with you. I will not neglect you.”

Rudy ducked his head quickly as Kairos took a swing at him. In that moment, Rudy felt foolish that he had dropped the metal feather from before. He had thought that he’d be fine as he could now draw anything. But how could he with Kairos constantly closing in on him? Each attack was becoming harder and harder to dodge. He could not keep this up forever.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Kairos had been so distracted with him that he could not tell that King Mumbo Jumbo was closing in behind him. The large tortoise raised a closed fist into the air and struck him in between his shoulders.

Kairos let out a squawk as he tumbled forward. He shook his head and turned to glare at the old tortoise. He opened up his beak and let out another squawk, this one sounding more terrifying than any others he had produced. It was enough to unnerve the tortoise, yet he still did not back away.

Instead of focusing on him, which Rudy thought he would, Kairos immediately turned back to him. He grinned twistedly for a second before raising his wings into the air and then dashing forward in a single bound, moving so fast that either King Mumbo Jumbo nor Barney could stop him.

Rudy let out a cry as Kairos slammed himself against him. He was forced into the ground. He let out a scream as the impact hit his broken arm. He felt his heart begin to race as he wondered if all these hits against it was going to make it even harder to recover.

Rudy looked up in fear as he stared at Kairos. The zoner’s face was close to his, his bronze beak stretched up in that hideous smile of his. He could practically see his own face being reflected out of the zoner’s eyes. Kairos gripped him firmly with one of his feet. Rudy winced as the talons pressed against the skin of his right arm. The bird zoner then raised up his metallic feathers, the tips glinting in what light there was. Rudy found it impossible to look away from the feathers. Then the zoner struck down. Rudy screamed and looked away.

Suddenly there was a loud shing sound. Metal clanging against metal. Confused, Rudy opened up his eyes and turned his head. He stared in shock when he saw Barney standing there. He stood on the side, his hands and arms reaching out as far as they could go. He was holding the metal feather from before, and Kairos’s own metal feathers were hitting against it, threatening to scrape off.

Barney gritted his teeth tightly, his hands holding on the metal feather tighter. Kairos’s eyes were wide in shock at this. He then narrowed them and tried to push down harder, hoping to use his own strength against the zoner. Barney held his ground surprisingly well. Rudy couldn’t help but feel impressed.

But it didn’t last too long. Kairos got tired of trying to outmuscle the zoner and he simply raised his other foot off the ground, shifting more weight onto Rudy’s right arm. In his pain, Rudy could hear Barney’s pained cry as Kairos knocked him back.

“Out of my way, you annoying little bug....” Kairos growled at him. “Or would you rather be my target..?”

Barney looked at Kairos with a mixture of fear and anger. “I will not back down...”

Kairos scoffed at this, gritting his beak. “Then...so be it...”

In a second, Kairos had released Rudy and he lunged towards Barney. He brought his talons over and slashed in the air wildly. Barney swung at him desperately, hoping to defend himself. But Kairos’s blows got more and more erratic, and soon he was not able to dodge a blow that slashed him along the chest.

“Aaaarrghhh!” Barney cried, clutching his chest tightly, some of his legs giving out. Blood oozed out of the long gash that went diagonal along his chest.

“Barney!” Cried King Mumbo Jumbo.

Rudy got up to his feet and rushed over, knowing that the old tortoise would not be able to make it over in time. He moved himself as quickly as he could and he grabbed onto the back of Kairos’s neck, his fingers gripping the feathers. Kairos backwinged him and forced him to let go. He then turned his attention back to Barney, raising his wing up over the trembling and cringing zoners, ready to strike again.

King Mumbo Jumbo managed to get close enough and he grabbed onto Kairos from behind. His arms looped around the bird zoner’s neck and he started to drag him back. He applied pressure, cutting off some of Kairos’s air supply.

Kairos struggled in his grasp, one leg kicking and scraping at the ground while the other was grabbed onto the tortoise’s arm, pulling and trying to force him to let go. King Mumbo Jumbo was not relenting, gritting his beak as he struggled to hold onto the bird zoner. Eventually, Kairos retaliated by stomping down on his damaged foot. King Mumbo Jumbo let out a yelp of pain and his grip on him weakened. Kairos broke free and rammed him into the ground.

Before Kairos could make another move against him, there was a loud thunk sound and his eyes bulged. Not from pain of course, but from surprise.

Rudy couldn’t turn his eyes away form what happened. He hadn’t expected Barney to move that fast. He did not expect him to rush forward towards Kairos like that. And he certainly did not expect him to strike against Kairos with that metal feather. Barney knew that the fiend could not feel pain. If he was hoping to distract him, then...

Rudy widened his eyes when he noticed that wasn’t what the zoner was going for. At least, not quite. Since he could not distract him with pain, the centipede gave something else to distract the zoner with.

A damaged leg.

Blood was dripping from a deep gash in the leg. It ran along the top, below where the knee was, and then looped behind. It was clear that a tendon had been severed; there was a wonkiness to the leg, and as Kairos lifted it and tried to move it, there was a degree of loss of movement in that leg. Notably, the foot couldn’t rotate as well and there was some loss of dexterity in the toes themselves.

Kairos stared in shock at this attack, taking in a few quick breaths. He then turned to Barney. His eyes seemed to begin to glow as anger seeped in.

“How dare you...” His voice was deep and growly. “No one...touches me that way...” He spread his wings out, his pupils shrinking. “No one!”

He charged toward Barney, a noticeable limp in his running. Barney scrambled to get back while King Mumbo Jumbo limped his way towards them, shouting at Kairos to leave his friend alone.

Rudy looked around and saw that everyone in the audience, including King Zander, was giving all their attention to the fight going on with King Mumbo Jumbo, Barney, and General Kairos, or on Penny and Snap with Cychreides. None of them were looking at him. That gave him an opportunity to do something.

And now, in the seconds that flashed by, he finally figured out what he could do. He would need to take the opportunity now, before it was too late.

Using the few, crucial seconds that he was given, Rudy quickly began to sketch something.

sss

Penny flinched as she heard the scraping of the creature as it struck against the ground, narrowly missing her a second time. Or was it a fourth? She could no longer remember. All she could do was keep running and hope that she could stay one step ahead of the creature long enough to draw something.

If she could draw something... Despite having a piece of magic chalk, she hadn’t yet tried to draw anything. How could she when she was too busy running for her life? She couldn’t even stop for a moment because the beast was getting upon her. There was just no time to sketch something.

And she didn’t even know what to sketch yet. How was she going to stop this rampaging monster? It was so big and heavy... And still somehow fast, too. And it was equipped with a powerful beam. Whatever she decided to draw, she would have to make sure that it counted. There was little reason to believe that she’d get a second chance if something goofed up.

She turned her head a little, looking out the corner of her eyes. She caught a glimpse of the metal dragon. She did not see too much detail, just enough to know that the metal beast was getting closer and closer to her with each step that it took. She was swiftly running out of time as she ran around in a wide circle in the arena. Unless she did something in the next few minutes, she was going to lose too much stamina and she was going to get caught.

She didn’t get much further in her thoughts. In her efforts to get away, she took a horrible mistep. Her foot bent inwards and she put her full weight on it. The resulting agony caused her to fall into the ground. She seethed and clutched her foot with her free hand, rubbing it gently. She stared down at it and noticed the swelling. Great, a sprained ankle. Just what she needed... The only good thing about this is that at least it’s on the same leg that she was already having some problems with before.

She lifted her head up and stared at the oncoming metal dragon in fear. She struggled to get herself up off the ground. The pain in her foot caused her to keep slipping down. She let out a cry of pain as her leg gave out and she fell into the ground.

She felt her blood run cold when she realized there was no way she was going to be able to get out of the way in time. She let out a soft whimper as she looked up again and watched as the metal dragon got closer, its feet pounding the ground. In only a few seconds, it would be upon her. Not enough time to draw. All she could do was wait for the blow.

It never came. And she could see the reason why.

Snap had climbed up the dragon. Penny gasped in shock. Snap...? When did.. When did he get up there? She wanted to shout at him, tell him to get off the dragon. But she could not get her voice to articulate words. All she could do was watch in horror as Snap held onto the back of the dragon’s horns as the beast swung around, trying to dislodge him.

Penny felt her heart racing against her chest. She needed to think of something fast. If she didn’t stop the dragon now, it was going to... She pushed the horrible thoughts out of her head as she tried to refocus her attention.

She searched her mind as quickly as she could. Her head began to ache from all the thinking she was doing. She pressed on, hoping that, somehow, someway, she would find something that would work. There had to be....someway to stop this big, metal creature, right?

Of course there was. She remembered how it reacted to the bright light from her earing. She wondered if it was possible to pull the same trick off. There was only one way to find out.

She quickly sketched a red laser pointer in her hands. The same type that she would use to play with the cats her mother could bring in and take care of. She held it in her hands, staring at it for a few moments. Then she turned her attention to the dragon.

She gasped when she saw Snap being pushed into the ground. The dragon’s large foot pressed against his body, covering much of it and pushing him into the ground. Snap struggled to get free, his hands pushing against the metal claws and his leg kicking. The dragon spread his membrane-less wings outward, giving the appearance of long, spindly claws stretching over him, making the scene look even more horrifying. The dragon opened its mouth wide, nearly unhinging its own jaw, and a glow began to emit from its jaws.

Knowing what was coming, Penny limped around to the side. She moved as quickly as she could, hoping that her legs would carry her fast enough. She soon reached the side of the dragon. She looked at Snap’s terrified face and then she glared at the dragon. She raised the laser pointer up and shined it in the dragon’s eye.

The dragon pulled its head back, lifting its leg up from Snap as it took a step backwards. Penny had to keep raising and readjusting the laser pointer in order to get it to stay on the dragon’s eye. Her efforts were paying off as the dragon shook its head, trying to get the light out of its eyes.

Snap’s frightened voice sounded out behind her. “What are you doing...?! Put that thing down, before it decides to chase you again!”

Penny’s mind flashed to when Cychreides had gone after Snap after a while of shining a light in its eye. She momentarily froze, but she soon relaxed when she reminded herself that, at the time, Snap was relying on reflexion only, while she was using an actual light. She held her ground, watching as the dragon shook its head and backed away.

It didn’t last too long, however, before the dragon finally had enough. Penny felt a pang of horror and realized that she should have heeded Snap’s advice when the dragon charged towards her. With a scream, she put her hands in front of her face and scrambled to get back.

Snap grabbed onto her and steadied her while she turned around. The two friends then continued to run as fast as they could.

sss

That was it. He has had quite enough. He was going to put an end to this once and for all.

Kairos bit down on King Mumbo Jumbo’s arm. The tortoise let out a scream of pain as his wickedly sharp beak shredded into his arm. Kairos ripped off a small chunk of flesh, blood splattering on the ground as he did so. He then struck against the tortoise’s injured leg, making him crumple to the ground and quiver and whimper in pain.

Kairos sneered down at him, a part of him amused at how something as simple as pain could be so devastating. Pain was just another form of touch, so how could it be so bad? How could touch possibly be bad and so crippling? He’s just weak. They’re all weak, all his victims and his present ones. All weak and pathetic.

He turned his attention to Barney. Despite the centipede’s lucky blow on him, despite his leg being a little...less useful than his other, Kairos had managed to stop this bug zoner from hitting him again. Now the metal feather was gone, broken in two pieces on the ground, and before Barney could attempt to get at it, Kairos slashed at one of his legs. The centipede jumped back, barely managing to dodge.

Kairos jumped towards him, snapping his beak close to his head. Barney let out a scream as he pulled his head back, almost getting hit in the process. Kairos stared at him with glinting eyes, his mind filling with so many memories of this zoner.

It had been pretty fun toying with him before. Forcing him to endure having his wings torn off was a spectacle he didn’t think he’d get to do. He almost never had the luxury of playing with a winged zoner before. For some reason, they were more fun to experiment on in his quest to understand pain. Something about the loss of flight really got to them. Although admittingly, he was a little disappointed in Barney’s reaction; it was too similar to many others.

So perhaps it was time to try something new. Maybe if he ripped out his eyes, he will give a more profound response. Yes, that’s what he’ll do. He never ripped out eyes before, but he heard they were quite sensitive. He had to wonder if they hurt worse than having a limb broken or having wings ripped out.

There was one good way to find out.

He raised his wings up slightly, tilting his head to one side. “So it’s come down to this...”

“P-Please don’t...” Barney whimpered as he tried to scoot himself away. “Don’t hurt me...”

Kairos let out a cruel chuckle. “Oh I plan on doing so much to you right now, Barney. Tell me, how much do you think it’ll hurt if I gouge out your eyes...?”

Barney let out a wail of fear. “No! Please!”

Kairos’s smile grew at this response. Ah yes, he was going to get the response he so desperately desired and deserved. He began to advance on the centipede slowly, taking his time. He wanted to savor this moment.

“No! Back off!” Rudy rammed himself against him, his shoulder ramming against him.

Kairos grunted and glared down at him. “I’m not targeting you yet! Don’t make me do this!”

Rudy raised up the magic chalk. Kairos stared at it wide-eyed as he watched it sparkle. Dammit, King Zander just had to give the boy the magic chalk, didn’t he? Kairos stood there frozen for a few seconds, and then he moved away from Barney, arching around Rudy in a wide circle.

He looked at the boy, his eyes focusing mostly on the piece of magic chalk in his hands. He licked his beak slowly. He needed to figure out how he was going to get the boy away from the chalk. He wasn’t going to be able to make too much of a move yet, not until he figured out how he was going to target him.

His hands were a simple target, but the boy may be fast. Perhaps he should rethink his plan a little. He scanned the boy around. He soon locked his eyes on the boy’s legs. Maybe if he snapped one in half...

Kairos’s beak opened in a toothless grin. Mimicking the move pulled on him earlier, he grabbed a metal feather and yanked it out. Rudy’s eyes widened in shock at this. Moving too quickly for the boy, Kairos thrusted the metal feather in the boy’s direction.

The boy managed to dodge, much to his disappointment. The sharp tip of the wing sliced into the ground between his legs. However, the suddenness of the attack caused him to fall into the ground. Now Rudy laid on his back. At this, Kairos couldn’t help but smile. Well, at least he had been able to knock the magic chalk out of the boy’s hand. Now it rested beside him.

Before the boy had a chance to grab it, Kairos jumped on top of him. He balanced himself with his weaker foot while his other grabbed onto Rudy, his talons pressing against his chest, threatening to pierce the skin. Rudy grabbed onto him with his right hand and tried to push him off. But it was to no avail. Kairos couldn’t help but chuckle at his pitiful efforts.

“You are no going anywhere this time. You crossed the line by coming here...” Kairos hissed at the boy. “Now you must pay the price...”

Rudy growled at him. “Like hell you care... You don’t care about anyone but yourself...!”

Kairos froze at this. For a moment, he was genuinely shocked by this accusation. Then he smiled at the boy. “Oh naive you are... Of course I care about someone other than myself..” He motioned his wing upwards, towards King Zander. “I care about him.”

Rudy pushed against him. “Probably only because he lets you get away with such gruesome acts!”

“...Perhaps.” Kairos lowered himself further, his orange eyes locking onto Rudy’s green ones. He spoke in a low whisper. “But at least I can say I care about someone...” He lifted his head up slightly. “So I’m not..heartless.”

“You’re a monster! That’s what you are!” Rudy shouted at him.

Kairos chuckled at this. “A monster, am I...? How am I a monster when all I want to do is understand...?”

“You could find another way to do it! A book! Something!”

“Ah, but experiencing it first hand is always so much better. Did you know that everyone has a sublte reaction to pain? I find that quite fascinating. Don’t you...?”

“You...”

“Say Rudy... Why don’t you answer me this question? What would happen if I were to..I don’t know...cut off your eyelids..? Would that hurt?”

Rudy’s eyes flashed in horror at this. He began to struggle harder, his legs kicking at him, missing each time. Kairos smiled at this. He would have to take that as a yes.

“And...just out of curiosity..” Kairos moved his right wing down, placing it over Rudy’s head in a mock comforting away. “How do your friends taste..?” Rudy’s face paled at this. “Maybe if you told me their flavor... I won’t need to try them. I’m especially curious of what your insect friend there tastes like..”

“Barney...?” Rudy whispered.

“Yes, Barney.” Kairos nodded his head. “I did get to taste the old tortoise. Not bad...” He raised his wing up and spread it out in gesture. “But not the tastiest thing I’ve had. A little bland. Needs some seasoning.”

Rudy stared at him in horror. His mouth was open and he looked as if he were trying to speak. No words would come out.

“Speechless I see.. Well then..” Kairos chuckled softly. He decided now was the best time to make his move. “Maybe I will...”

Something massive and hard collided with him. Kairos let out a shout of surprise as he stumbled away. He scrambled to get himself rebalanced. He shook his head and glared off in the direction of the attack. He noticed that King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney had, despite their wounds, pushed him out of the way.

“You two...” Kairos felt his blood boiling. How dare they intervene... He couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction as their eyes widened in horror and their faces paled. They began to back away. “Yeah, that’s right! You better get away, because I’m gunna...!”

It was then that Kairos realized that something was really wrong. The zoners there...and Rudy, too... They weren’t looking at him. Their pupils were faced elsewhere. Something behind him...

Suddenly he felt two indivduals brush past him quickly. Penny and Snap...? They were panicked and running away, and it was not him who startled them. Then who was it...?

Then it clicked in his head. He had forgotten for a while that he was not the only one in this arena. Slowly, he turned himself around. He stared up as Cychreides dashed forward. The metal dragon seemed so fixated on something, that it was clear that the dragon was not looking where it was going. Kairos waved his wings around, trying to get its attention as he scrambled to get away, but Cychreides did not respond.

Kairos turned and attempted to take flight, instincts telling him to fly off. However, he had reacted too late, and as the dragon rushed past, its massive, hard-as-rock tail slammed into his back. There was a resounding crack as he slammed into the ground, letting out a scream of surprise. His body created a long dent in the ground, as if he were getting ready to plant some crops or something.

He let out a soft groan as he coughed out some dirt that had gotten into his mouth. He shook his head and he turned his attention towards the shocked group. His eyes focused on Penny and Snap. He took in a few breaths as his mind began to burn. They... They must have planned this... He would get them for this. He would make them pay.

He placed his wings on the ground and he attempted to push himself up. But when he attempted to put a foot down and push himself up, all that happened was that he slid back down, as if he didn’t even try.

What..? That was strange. Maybe he just didn’t do it well enough. He tried again, this time being more careful. But the same thing happened, and he still found himself resting against the ground. His mind swirled with confusing thoughts. What was going on?

That was when he heard horrified cries from people in the audience.

“General Kairos is down!”

“How did he survive that?!”

“What’s going to happen to him?!”

Kairos noted the terror in their voice, which prompted further confusion. What were they talking about? He felt fine. What could have possibly happened that they....

Then he saw that Rudy was staring over in his direction. The boy had an expression of shock and grim...something. He couldn’t quite pinpoint it. He was unable to see what was going on with the dragon, no matter how hard he struggled, but he guessed that the dragon was being distracted somehow.

Kairos raised his head up and glared at Rudy. “What? Going to fight me again? Go on and try!”

Rudy just stared at him for a few seconds. “Normally...I do not attack someone on the ground...”

Kairos narrowed his eyes in confusion at this. He struggled to get back up to his feet, but again he fell back down. Why weren’t his legs and feet doing the job anymore? Why are they....

Kairos realized with sweeping realization, that he could not feel his legs. They had gone numb. He blinked in confusion, not able to understand this. He turned his head around so he could see his back. His eyes went wide in shock when he saw that his back and spine had been twisted, bent at an odd angle. His legs were splayed in a useless way at his sides, their bones clearly broken in two.

He felt his heart quickening as he stared at this for a few moments and then he turned his head back towards Rudy. The boy was approaching him slowly, his hand gripping the magic chalk he had temporarily lost. The sight of this made Kairos desperately try to flap his wings. But with no way to gain traction, he could not get aloft. And his wings weren’t good at pushing him along the ground, so even crawling was out of the question. He was stuck.

“But you know..” Rudy’s voice became uncharacteristically cool. It was as if the boy’s pent up anger and hatred towards him was numbing him, turning his usually warm demeanor into something made of ice. “I could always make an exception...”

Kairos’s eyes widened as he watched the boy raise up the magic chalk.

“...for you.”

Kairos shook his head, his body beginning to shake as he felt something he never thought he would.

Raw terror.

“No...please...” Kairos begged him as he scrambled to try to get away. “D-Don’t...”

Rudy narrowed his eyes. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.. After all you have done... Why should I listen to you...?”

“I-I’m sorry! Please...! I...!” Kairos whimpered, pleading with the boy as his wings flapped desperately. He knew that trying to apologize was not going to work, but he still found himself trying anyway. “I’m sorry!”

Rudy curled his lip up in a snarl. “I don’t believe you.” He said in cold voice.

Kairos’s eyes widened, a few tears of fear starting to form. He watched as Rudy raised the chalk to start to draw. He tried to get away, but with his legs paralayzed, he was just as helpless as his victims had been. All he could do was lay there and wait for Rudy to make his move. He shut his eyes and looked away, whimpering and crying in fear.


	34. Exposure Of Lies

Coming out here seemed like a mistake at first. It was too dangerous, and he knew it. The king was not to be trusted, and he had no idea what would happen to him if he had set foot here.

Yet, he was still compelled to come here. Ever since he had seen Rudy, Penny, Snap, Barney, and someone he didn’t recognize being taken across the land, going in the opposite direction than he had recalled them going, he just had to follow them. It might not be with the wishes of the chief, but...he still had to do this. After all, they helped him; it was time that he returned the favor.

Well he was aware that he did help them out of the jungle, but a part of him felt that perhaps he owed them more. And even if he didn’t, he still would have come here anyway. Hiding and following, careful not to make a sound.

A part of Theron wished he brought along Aris. She would have been great for travel. Or at least one of the hippogriffs. But...no. That would have been too tricky. He had to do this alone. He was more than capable. He had been trained by the chief himself and he knew how to watch his back. He placed his hand against the long spear that was attached through a loop in his belt. If any of King Zander’s guards were to show up, he would give them something to remember him by.

He positioned himself behind one of the buildings. A dangerous spot; he might get noticed. But there was hardly much of a hiding spot around here. He kept himself pressed in the shadowy portion of the wall, keeping himself hidden.

He glared ahead at what he recognized as an arena. A colosseum. He narrowed his eyes. So King Zander decided to make another one of these, eh? He thought that he was finished long ago. What had compelled him to make another? Perhaps it was related to Rudy and the others? King Zander never did like visitors all that much, especially with all the problems they had so long ago, when creators ran amok in this world.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure of Rudy himself at first. He hadn’t seen a creator himself and could only rely on accounts from zoners who did. He wasn’t sure how trustworthy the boy was and he had considered capturing him and his friends on the spot.

But he didn’t want to be like King Zander. He wanted to give them a chance first. A chance to prove themselves. And they passed. Rudy and Penny both could have easily killed Aris’s daughter when they had the chance, or make off with her, or even just take the hippogriffs and flee. But they didn’t. They came back with Althea unharmed and the hippogriffs were all returned. They had earned his trust at that moment.

But King Zander...he was a rather stubborn fool. He seemed to operate under the belief that all creators were dangerous, and lately it spread to all surface dwellers were dangerous, too. He wasn’t sure how far he was going to take it. Was he going to invade the surface? That was farfetched, but still within the realm of possibility.

He shook his head. He couldn’t psychoanalyze the king right now. He had to focus on a way of getting Rudy and the others out of that arena. But...how was he going to do that? He needed to think of a plan.

Something flickered before him, in the corner of his eyes. He turned his head to see what looked like some kind of light zipping around. Small, pale yellow, and hovering. He stared at it in confusion, wondering what it was. He was about to go towards it when he remembered that he was supposed to be hiding. He pulled himself back and just watched as the thing zipped away.

What was that? It almost looked like some kind of...probe. Could Rudy have drawn it? Maybe. But there was no way to really know, unless he asked Rudy himself, which he could not right now. He shook his head and looked around the corner. His eyes narrowed slowly. Now...how was he going to do this...?

“Can I help you?”

Theron nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a feminine voice behind her. He rubbed his head and turned around to see a humanoid zoner standing behind him. She was staring at him in confusion, her head tilted slightly. Theron took a step back, moving his head around to see if there was anyone else with her.

“Who are you?” The woman asked him. “I don’t ever recall seeing you here before.” She turned her head, eyeing the arena for a few seconds. “Did you come to see the fights?”

Theron shook his head. “I..I was just passing through.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously. “My name is Theron.”

“Calista.” The woman eyed him up and down. “Judging from your outfit...you live somewhere away from the civilization, don’t you?”

“I....yes.” Theron wasn’t sure why he said that. Then again, this woman could have found out easily he didn’t live here. If she were obsessed enough, she could search around, ask people about him. And she would eventually figure it out. “It’s my first time coming back here in...such a long time.” He took a moment to look upwards. “Some things have changed. Others have not.” He leveled his head. “The colosseum is new.”

“Yes, it is.” Calista nodded her head. “King Zander thought of it himself.” She looked over at the arena. “She had those two creators build it for him.”

“I see...” Theron gave pause. Then he continued, “Do you know where I can talk to them?” Calista swiftly turned her head and looked at him. “I had never met a creator before. I was wondering if you could help me meet one of them? It would be quite fascinating.”

Calista stared at him for a few seconds. It was hard to tell if she was convinced or not. Her expression was merely a blank. Maybe a slight eye narrow, but not enough to give away exactly what she was thinking. Then she soon gave a sigh and nodded her head once. She motioned with her hand and said, “Come with me.”

Theron watched as the woman began to slowly walk away, towards the entrance of one of the stores. Perhaps it was the one she run. But why would she go in that direction instead of the colosseum? He placed his hand gingerly over the spear. He was going to need to take cautious steps. Slowly, he began to follow her.

She led him into a store that had all kinds of plushies being sold. They were all pretty nice, some better than others. But he did not allow himself to get too distracted by them. He didn’t come here to window shop. He continued to follow the woman as she led him towards the back.

“Why are we going in here?” Theron asked softly.

“I need to get something in here.” Calista said.

Theron wasn’t entirely sure if he believed her or not. But he still followed her; if he left too soon, she might get suspicious. Plus, she might be getting him something that he could use to help the others. He just needed to be cautious and aware of his surroundings, and everything would be fine.

Calista led him further into the back and he noticed it wasn’t too well lit here compared to the rest of the store. There were some lights of course. But many were starting to die and at least one was flickering. But Calista moved through like it was nothing. Perhaps she was used to the dim lighting. Theron found himself following closer behind her just to avoid tripping over anything.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and he had to avert his eyes for a second. He reopened them slowly and he saw that Calista had turned on one of the lights in the room. He couldn’t even remember when they had gone through those doors. He took a moment and looked around.

This seemed like a pretty strange room. Some shelves, but mostly empty. Oh and there was some kind of seat. Strange... Why would Calista need a chair like this in here? It looks more like what he’d see in a doctor’s office.

His eyes slowly widened and he felt his body stiffen up. He had a pretty good idea on what was going to happen. He remained still at first, only taking a few steps forward, his eyes locked onto the chair. But his senses were all over the place. His hearing was scanning the area for any sign of sound.

As soon as he heard the slightest sound from behind him, he immediately pulled out his spear and swung himself around. He held out the spear at each end and pushed upward. This prevented the cinder block from being brought down onto his skull. However the force was still enough to knock him off his feet and he found himself pinned down.

Calista gritted her teeth, one hand gripping his and trying to push down, the other weilding the cinder block. She lifted it up again and tried to move it over his head. Theron kicked his legs harder as he tried to get himself out, but the position he was in, there was no way he could get out of the way in time.

“Why are you...doing this...?” Theron asked, trying to hide his fear.

Calista narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re one of them... You’re a sympathizer. You’re a threat to King Zander!”

Theron pushed against her as hard as he could. But despite her being thinner than he was, she was still able to keep him pinned down. He grunted as she slammed a foot against his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. This caused him to loosen and Calista fell forward. She rested on top of him for a second before pushed herself up, raising the cinder block over his head. Theron’s eyes widened and he tried to get away.

“Do not fret...” Calista mockingly, her mouth ticking into a small, dark smile. “I will make this quick. Once I crack your skull open...” She readied to strike. “You won’t feel a thing...”

Theron gripped her arm and shook his head, his eyes wide in horror. He frantically kicked at her, trying to make her get off. But Calista only laughed at his attempts and raised the cinder block even higher, threatening to bring it down on his face. Unable to get away, Theron’s wide, horror-filled eyes locked onto the cinder block.

“Please! It didn’t have to be this way!” Theron pleaded. He wished he could pull up his spear and defend himself. But in this position, that was impossible. “You have to stop this!”

Calista snarled at him. “And all how you to conspire with those...those creator filth and those surface dweller inferiors...?” She bared her teeth. “I don’t think so...”

Just then, two large hands appeared from behind. One hand grabbed onto Calista’s head while an arm looped around her neck, pressing against her throat.

“What the...?” Calista turned to see who was behind her, but she never had a chance to complete the turn.

With a quick twist and the loud crack of bone, Calista’s head and neck was forced to once side. The resulting force caused her body to twitch, sucking in an involuntary gasp of hair. Then her body was released, the life having faded from her eyes.

The cinder block, no longer held up, began to fall towards Theron. He let out a scream and turned his head away. One of the large hands reached out and grabbed onto it just before it hit him. It was lifted up and then tossed to the side like it was nothing.

For a few moments, Theron couldn’t say anything. He stared up at his savior. A large, female centaur. Same height as Calista, but a lot stronger. She was staring down at him with a glare, yet she was making no move to hurt him. Theron took in a few breaths, and then he slowly turned to look at where Calista had fallen.

Her eyes were wide and dull and glazed over. Her mouth was open partially, laying on her side with her head resting in a more normal position, as if it wasn’t twisted. Yet the indention in the neck would tell anyone there was something wrong with it. Her body was still twitching, going through the death throes.

Theron stared from her and then slowly looked up at the centaur woman. He licked his lips nervously, his hand reaching over towards the spear. “Wh-Who are you?” He demanded.

“Hmph...” The centaur woman folded her arms against her chest. “I think I am the one who just saved your scrawny life.” She stared down at the spear. “Going to stab your savior with that?”

Theron froze at this. He knew he was taking a risk. But, slowly, he pulled his hand away. “Who are you?” This time, he asked it in a less frightened or uncertain tone.

The centaur woman looked at her hand, turning it around as if it was some fascinating thing to be examined. “I am Bronte. I helped to run this store with Calista here.”

Theron blinked a few times. He slowly looked over at Calista’s deceased form. “If she was your partner, then why did you...?”

“Ever since she attacked that little blue fellow, I knew she wasn’t any good.” Bronte said. Despite her glare and overall tough exterior, her tone of voice seemed to hint at some level of remorse. “When I saw her leading you in here, I knew I had to follow.” She looked at the cinder block she had tossed. “Good thing I did.”

“Y-Yeah...” Theron rubbed his head, feeling an ache in it as he imagined that would have happened if that thing had struck him. He looked back at Bronte. “Thanks...”

Bronte nodded her head, giving a soft grunt. “So...what were you doing here?”

“I came to see if there was any way I could help Rudy and...”

“Oh..the creators and their surface dweller friend?” Bronte cut him off. Wordlessly, Theron confirmed this with a nod. “I went to one of those.... ‘shows’ as they call them. I believe I have a solution to your problem..”

“Oh...?” Theron wasn’t entirely sure if he could trust Bronte. But...she did save his life. Perhaps he should be willing to give her a chance. “What is your idea?”

Bronte gave him a mischievious smile. “How good are you with animals?”

Theron stared at her, confused.

sss

So it had come down to this. Watching his enemy being reduced to this. It was quite a spectacle. It was too difficult to look away, and yet it was not easy simply staring.

Rudy found it hard to believe that this whimpering mess was Kairos. The same Kairos that had helped to torment him and his friends. The same Kairos that had attacked them, tortured Barney, and threatened to eat his friends. Just a short time ago, he had been flying around, taunting them, threatening them. And now here he laid, a broken shadow of his former self, helpless and shaking. His cries highlighted the transformation.

Rudy’s thoughts were mixed. On the one hand, Kairos was no longer a threat. He wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone in that condition. Yet he still couldn’t help but feel some level of pity for him. Having a broken back and broken legs wasn’t fun, and he couldn’t help but feel some sympathy towards him, even if he was a monster.

Now he was stuck between two choices. He could allow him to stay alive, and let him feel as trapped and vulnerable as his victims, to make him see what it felt like for them. But his more good-natured side was screaming at him to just end it. Put him out of his misery instead of allowing him to suffer, for that would make him just as bad as Kairos.

All the while, Kairos was whimpering and sobbing on the ground. He occasionally tried to flap to get away, making him look like a fallen bird struggling to get away from a predator. For a brief moment, Rudy nearly forgot who Kairos was, and soon reminded him that he was not some innocent, sickly bird. He was a major creepazoid who had crossed the line so many times.

Yet.. He didn’t know if he could bring himself to allow him to suffer further. He didn’t want to be the monster. That would not reflect well on him or his friends. They did not need to give these zoners another reason to want them dead. He knew what he had to do.

He had to be the bigger person.

But before he could make any such move, there was a swift motion, a blur of color, and he was knocked off his feet as he struggled to get back. At first, he thought it was the dragon, but when he turned his head, he saw that Cychreides was just...standing there, doing nothing except stare at them. Penny, Snap, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo were staring up in confusion.

Rudy felt perplexed as well. Why wasn’t the metal dragon attacking anymore? And if it wasn’t the dragon who swooped down, then who...

Rudy’s eyes widened as they locked onto King Zander.

“I think I’ve seen quite enough...” King Zander spoke in a low, growling voice. “Take one step further, and I will twist your legs backwards until your knee caps shatter.”

Rudy felt his heart clench. He knew the king meant every word. He took a smell step backwards, refusing to take his eyes away from the king. He clutched the piece of magic chalk tightly in his hand, fearing the king would try to take it from him.

King Zander regarded him with clear disgust. “I knew you creators were all the same... Hurting and killing innocents. Spreading pain and chaos and mayehm. Biclops was right to banish creators from ChalkZone, but now that you and your human friend are here... That rule needs to be...reinforced...”

Rudy took in a few quick breaths as he stared at King Zander. All around him, the zoners were telling the king to get it over with. Many expressed rage at what had happened to Kairos. Either they weren’t aware of what kind of zoner he was, or it was just the principal of it; a creator hurting a Chalklantian.

“But...But I didn’t hurt him!” Rudy called out. “The dragon hurt him!”

“Which you and your comrades still led towards him.” King Zander hissed at him through bared teeth. He looked down at Kairos, flinching as he looked at his crushed spine. He then turned back to Rudy, clutching a fist tightly and shaking it. “You...are going to regret that...”

“But...that’s not fair!” Penny cried out as she limped towards him. “I-It was my fault the dragon trampled him! Please...If you’re going to want to punish someone...let it be me!”

“And me! I helped, too!” Snap joined in. “Just...leave our friend alone!”

“G-Guys...!” Rudy cried out as he, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo stared aat this in shock. What were they thinking? They...They couldn’t...

King Zander was at first surprised by their offer. Then his eyes narrowed, looking as if he didn’t believe them. “Well then...if you would rather you get the punishment...” His eyes glinted. “Then I know the perfect one..”

No... He couldn’t allow this to happen. Rudy raised up the magic chalk to draw something to help his friends, momentarily forgetting that Penny also had her own piece.

Suddenly, King Zander rushed in his direction, moving too fast for the boy to see. He tried to turn around and face him, but the king had grabbed onto him. His arm pressed against his chest, his arm just missing pressing against his broken arm. He jerked a few times and then stopped when he suddenly felt something cold and pointed press against his throat. He realized it was part of Kairos’s metal wing, the one that Kairos had thrown earlier.

“I will punish your friend for what you have done...” King Zander’s eyes twinkled in insanity as he gave a deranged smile. “That would be a fair trade, right?!”

Penny, Snap, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo gasped in horror at this, their eyes bulging so wide, it almost looked like they would fall out. Rudy felt his heart skip a beat, his blood turning to ice as he stared at his friends, and then looked up at King Zander. He wanted to struggle, but he dare not move, fearing that a single jerk was all it was going to take to force the sharp blood to slice his skin.

Rudy was only partially aware of the zoners cheering the king on, telling him to ‘slice the monster’, obviously referring to him. At the moment, Rudy’s mind was too clouded with rapidly moving thoughts to pay attention to that.

He looked left and right, his eyes constantly darting around. He tried to think of some way to get out of this mess. When he couldn’t find any, his heart beat even faster. He pulled on the king’s arm with his hand, trying to force him to let go. The king only tightened his grip.

“Please...” Penny begged. “Y-You can’t do this...!”

“For crippling my general and unleashing that dreaded head deflator disease... Yes I can!” King Zander pressed the metal feather further against Rudy’s throat, threatening to slice it open. “You all brought this on yourselves!”

“We...didn’t....release....the....disease....” Rudy gagged as King Zander squeezed him tighter, affecting his ability to breathe.

“More lies..” King Zander gritted his teeth, his pupils shrinking. “I think you need to be taught a lesson..” He turned his head up slightly and looked over at the audience. “What do you all say? Shall I give this monster exactly what he deserves?!”

The audience’s decision was virtually unanimous.

“Kill him!”

“Rip out his throat!”

“Make him pay!”

Rudy’s eyes widened in horror as King Zander smiled down at him. “Well...looks like my people have spoken..” He bared his teeth in a wicked grin. He whispered softly, “Say goodnight...”

“No!” The others cried out in unison.

Rudy trembled. “No..please...We really didn’t...” He yelped as the knife began to press further against his neck. He felt horror wash through him as he felt blood start to seep from the presently shallow cut. “Please.. Why won’t you listen...? We didn’t....We didn’t release the disease!”

“Why do you continue to lie even when you’re about to expire..?” King Zander’s mouth was next to his ear as he spoke softly into it. “You have nothing left to lose right now if you speak the truth. Yet you continue to spill your disgusting lies. Tell me...is everyone on the surface like this...?”

Rudy didn’t answer. All he could do was stand there, frozen in terror, too afraid to even try to struggle, lest he get himself cut worse. He looked up at King Zander pleadingly, his teeth clenched. “P-Please..don’t...”

King Zander narrowed his eyes. “You...disgusting little...” His body started to shake slightly in anger. Rudy feared that the king may unintentionally cut him on the process. “Many of my people had been lost because of you! Do you have any idea how many people died because of the head deflator disease?!”

“I...” Rudy yelped as the king moved the knife to one side, creating a small, thin, red line. His friends cried out in horror at this.

“Countless! And I traced the source to you!” King Zander’s voice was tinged in rage. It was clear that if he were sufficiently angered a little more, then he would just stop talking and go in for the kill. “And if you need proof that this has been happening...”

With a nod of his head, the winged guards moved in and began to active the screens again, just like before. This time, gruesome imagery of zoners infected with the disease began to pop up.

“Take a look!” King Zander wailed. “Look at what you have done!”

It was difficult looking away from the images. Rudy couldn’t hide his gasp of horror. Even in his position, he could see how horrified the others looked. Penny with her hands to her mouth. Snap taking a step back. King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney moving close to each other for support. These images...they were horrible...

The poor zoners who got infected by it slowly began to lose their brains. The images showed the process, and the zoner began to lose more and more functions. Then at the final state, the skull had caved in on itself, making it look like someone took a hammer and smashed it.

Rudy could feel his heart clench, his heart racing. Those poor zoners... Just what was it like for them...? How did it feel to slowly lose their minds, and then their life when their brains no longer had the function to control vital organs? The thought of it... It was too horrible...

“Why would you....” Rudy whispered softly. He tried to fight back the tears. “Why would you think that I would do something like that..? That’s horrible! I-I would never...”

“I don’t know. Maybe you got bored and wanted to experiment?” King Zander said coldly, uncaring of Rudy’s expression of sorrow. “I know how you creators can be...”

“Please... he... we didn’t do this...!” Penny called out to the king. “You have to believe us!”

Snap raised his hands in the air. “We would never do anything so awful!”

King Zander glared at them, and then he stared down at Rudy. He remained silent, as if waiting for Rudy to speak. So Rudy took this opportunity. “They are... telling the truth. I’m telling the... truth. We...didn’t release this...disease. We had nothing to do with it. Please... if..if you release me... I p-p-promise we’ll help find out what happened... Please... Let us make this right. Let us stop this illness. Please...”

King Zander stared at Rudy, his narrowed eyes regarding him coldly. The murmuring and whispering around him caused him to lift up his head and look around. Some of the zoners were speaking to each other. It was hard to say if they were taking up the offer or what.

The king himself, however, didn’t seem too interested. If anything, the offer seemed to only anger him further. But why? Why would King Zander be upset about an offer to help his people? If he really cared about them, shouldn’t he be willing to take his offer for the benefit of his people? Or was there something else going on that they didn’t know about?

“I would have considered before...” King Zander’s voice was soft. Then it raised in volume quickly as his flat teeth were bared. “Until you monsters blew up the power plant! How can I trust you after that?!”

“We didn’t do that!” Barney took a few steps forward, his antennas curled in fear. “We had no involvement with what happened!”

“And yet you were spotted fleeing the scene of the crime!” King Zander declared, lowering his head. “And it exploded sometime after you left. Coincidence? I think not..”

The mention of the explosion made Rudy remember a small detail from before. He and his friends had discussed the confusion regarding how King Zander knew about the explosion when there was little chance that news of it couldn’t have reached him in time. How did the king know about this?

There were the videos... But they were likely taken by Kairos himself, and given to the king later. But even then, there was no way that even Kairos could have flown back that fast. The announcement had come a bit too quickly, considering the distance. The explosion had occurred long after they had left; they had not heard any explosion, which meant they had to have traveled far enough that the explosion could not be heard.

That made this whole thing seem to make less sense. There was no time for Kairos to reach King Zander to inform him of the news. Not fast enough to match up with when the announcement was made. The only other possibility is that King Zander...lied.

Rudy’s eyes flickered in realization. King Zander had lied about the disappearances to lure him and his friends down here. Was it any stretch that he lied again about this? Maybe he only just saw them enter, and he made up a story about how it exploded after they left. But... was this a case of coincidence? Was there a malfunction that the king decided to blame them for? Or did he....?

A sudden rage and adrenaline rushed through Rudy’s body, causing it to quake. He glared up at the king, any sign of fear gone. The king was confused by this change of demeanor, as were Penny and the others. Before the king could say anything, Rudy lifted up his leg and struck backwards, striking the king against his shin. King Zander let out a yelp of pain and staggered back.

“The fiend has struck our king!”

“Somebody, do something! Before he strikes again!”

Rudy glared at the king, his breathing coming in seething breaths. King Zander stared at him in absolute shock, unsure of how to take this. He panted a couple of times before he let out a low growl.

“How dare you...”

“Shut up!”

Everyone, even King Zander, was shocked by this. They stared, wide-eyed, at the boy as he formed a fist with his hand, shaking it. He stood in front of the king, his eyes glowing in absolute rage.

“It was you!” Rudy shouted at the king. He pointed an accusatory finger at King Zander. “You’re the one who caused the explosion in the power plant!”

At this, there was an immediate reaction from everyone. Penny, Snap, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo all reacted in shock. They stared at each other, unsure of what to think about this. The zoners in the audience around them were shouting profanities and anger-filled comments at such a preposterous idea. The guards were arching their backs, poised to strike. Cychreides was just standing and waiting for orders. Kairos, despite his fear, looked up in surprise at this, but also worry. And King Zander himself looked shocked and appalled by the accusation.

“You... You dare say such lies!” The fur on the back of King Zander’s neck raised up. “It’s bad enough that you spread lies about you did... But now you dare do it about me?!”

Rudy glared at the king. He didn’t care that King Zander was pointing the metal feather at him as a warning to shut up. There was no way he would keep quiet about this. The truth needed to be revealed, and no matter what the king threatened to do to him, he would tell it.

“Yes, I do dare.”

There was a brief, stunned silence, and then a mix of responses. Rudy ignored them all as he glared directly at King Zander.

sss

Snap couldn’t believe what he heard. This was not something he had expected Rudy to do. Accusing the king like that... That had been a really risky move. Snap was surprised that Rudy would even risk doing such a thing.

“Do you...think he’s right...?” Barney whispered softly. Snap turned to him. “Do any of you believe King Zander could have done that?”

King Mumbo Jumbo narrowed his eyes slightly. “He is a jerk... But I’m not sure if he would go that far. These are his people after all. Why could he do anything to hurt them just to get to you guys?”

Snap could see his point. It did seem strange, after all his talk about caring of his people and doing this for his people, that King Zander would deliberately cause an explosion that would injure so many zoners. Why would he risk such a thing? Why would he even consider that? Wouldn’t it be easier to just claim a wild, random explosion was caused by them, instead of risking hurting his people in the process?

But then again... It did seem that explosion was a little too perfectly timed. They were already gone when it happened, but...what were the odds that an explosion like that would occur on the same day they had gone in? And the news did get to King Zander a little too quickly...

Snap’s thoughts were broken when he heard the king shout at Rudy.

“What makes you think I was involved with that explosion?!”

Rudy, despite the metal feather being pointed in his direction, was standing firm, his eyes narrowed. “That announcement you made. It came way too early! It doesn’t fit the time frame!”

“You’re mistaken! My source had come to me and told me what happened!” King Zander took a step towards Rudy, his ears flattening. “You better stop your lying, boy!”

This time, Penny spoke up, making Snap and the other two look over at her. “Well, if that’s the case, then how come we didn’t hear any explosion on our way out? If it occurred because of us, we would have heard it well before. By the time the explosion would have happened, that meant that your source could not have possibly gotten to you before that radio message was aired. There was just not enough time!”

The king widened his eyes at this. He turned his head to look around. The zoners in the audience looked a little confused, but most of them were disbelieving of what Penny was saying. Looking satisfied with this, King Zander turned to look at Penny. “Are you quite done yet?”

Penny shook her head. King Zander growled at this. “You were also the one who was dropping magic chalk off! You would have your crony here..” She motioned towards the crippled Kairos. “...drop off pieces! You played a part in what happened!”

Rudy nodded his head. “You played us just so you could convince your people that we were the bad guys! You lied to them to make us look like monsters! But the most disgusting thing of all...” He gritted his teeth. “You willingly allowed some of your own people get hurt...even killed... all just so you could turn around and blame us!”

There was a confused and shocked murmuring in the audience. The zoners were looking at each other. Shrugging, nodding heads, shaking heads, overall looking confused or angry. They stared intently at King Zander.

“Is that true?” One zoner asked tentatively.

“No!” King Zander sliced his hoof hand through the air. “Of course not!” He spread his hands out as he looked up at his fellow zoners. “Come on! Do you think that I, your king, would do something that crazy?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time you lied!” Snap found himself saying, boiling anger making him feel sick as he remembered how the king got them down here in the first place. “You sent up a letter and told us that you were having disappearing problems around the city, and you wanted our help!”

“But it turned out to be a lie!” Rudy chimed in. “You tricked us into coming down here! We came here only because you invited us! We only stayed because you said you needed our help!”

Penny narrowed her eyes into slits. “Instead, you lied to us! You trapped us here and you abused us, even when we offered to help you!”

This made some of the zoners’ frowns disappear. It was clear that none of them had been told about this letter, or about the lies regarding the disappearances. There was less anger in the citizens now, and much more confusion. They stared at the king, waiting for him to retort that.

King Zander didn’t pay attention to them. His body was quaking, and his nostrils flared wildly. He looked like he was about ready to charge them and impale them with his antlers. He pawed the ground furiously and snorted, adding to this effect. It must be taking all his willpower not to chase after them right now.

“You told them there were disappearances...?”

“Why would you do that?”

“We don’t have any random disappearances going on! What was the point of lying to them?”

King Zander lifted his head up and glared at his citizens. “Be quiet!” The zoners stared at him with surprised expressions, cringing away a little at the volume of his voice. He then turned his attention back to the group. “Listen here... I am sick and tired of you trying to derail the issue and spread more of your lies... If you don’t cease this immediately...”

But they weren’t done. Not yet.

“Not until you answer our questions.” Barney said, taking a step forward.

“Yeah!” King Mumbo Jumbo folded his arms. “Just how did you get the message when you did? A hidden camera? Magic?”

Penny stepped in. “How come your citizens didn’t know about your disappearance lies? Don’t you think they deserve to know all the details on how you caught us?”

Rudy pointed a finger at him. “And tell all of us why you set us up killing those zoners to make us look bad!”

For a while, there was silence. Well almost silence. There were several zoners murmuring and wondering if they were speaking the truth. But their comments were soft; none of them dared to speak up. Their eyes were on the king as they waited for an answer.

King Zander was glaring at them, his hands still clutched in fists, still looking enragered. Yet Snap and his friends did not back down. They simply glared back at him. They, too, were waiting for him to provide an answer. Knowing him, he might have a backup plan, but perhaps, for once, they got him boxed into a corner.

“I am...impressed with how you manage to keep up such deceit...” King Zander finally spoke through clenched teeth. “But..it’s not good enough! You still have no proof to back up your claims! How do I know you didn’t just pull that out of your ass to try to save your skins..?!”

“And how do we know you aren’t making up stories yourself?” Rudy asked, his eyes narrowing even further. “Face it, King Zander. You’re the bigger monster here! You were the one who is using his own citizens just to get at us so you could go forth with whatever it is you’re planning!”

There was a series of gasps at this. Not just from Snap and the others, but from the zoners in the audience as well. Even though no proof was provided, there was a genuine shock in the citizens’s eyes. Either they believed Rudy and they were horrified, or they were shocked at the idea of the kind doing such a thing to them.

King Zander’s eyes seemed to glow in anger. He glared at Rudy intently, his lips curling up in a snarl. He looked ready to rip Rudy apart, and given his distance, he would be able to do some damage to the boy before Snap or the others could reach him. Even with the magic chalk, they were helpless to move that fast.

“You... Why you...” King Zander seethed at Rudy. He raised the metal blade into the air. “I should have done this as soon as you stepped foot on my grounds...!”

Snap widened his eyes and reached his hand out. “No! Stop!”

“Rudy!” Penny cried out. Behind her, King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney began to move forward, their wide eyes on the king and Rudy.

Suddenly, there was a bright light shooting down towards them. It zipped between Rudy and King Zander, and then flew straight up. It gave a few sparkles, as if trying to get everyone’s attention. Then it moved down again and hovered above the ground. Everyone stared at it in confusion.

Snap whispered, “What is that...?”

King Zander growled. “What sort of trickery is this?!”

At this, Rudy couldn’t help but smirk. “It’s my probe.”

King Zander looked down at him. “Your...what?” He tilted his head to one side, his teeth bared.

“My probe.” Rudy said, continuing to smile. “I drew it earlier. I programmed it to find something that could help us. And judging from how its acting...” He looked up, grinning as the thing beeped a few times. “I think it found something...quite special.”

“What?!” King Zander cried. “What did it find?!”

“I’ll be honest. I don’t know.” Rudy shrugged. “But if it came back here so quickly, it must be something...important.” Seeing how everyone around him, including his friends, were staring at him in confusion, Rudy turned his green eyes up towards the device. “Activate!”

At this command, the probe began to open itself up. The sound of gears churning and hissing could be heard as the thing began to transform. Now it resembled come kind of helmet. It then shot down towards Kairos and grabbed onto its head. The zoner flapped in desperation, but was completely helpless as the helmet lifted him up. It forced him to face one of the screens. Then, with a loud beep, Kairos’s eyes widened and began to glow brightly, flashing rapidly as if part of a movie reel. In a few seconds, a picture began to form.

sss

Penny put her hands to her mouth and took a sharp intake of breath when she saw what the probe had found.

Displayed before her, before everyone, was an image from Kairos’s point of view and he was clearly talking to King Zander. There was no mistaking that voice. It was surprising enough that this thing could make them watch Kairos’s memories like they wee on a video tape. But what shocked her the most was what was being discussed.

Rudy’s accusation had been correct. They were discussing plans to cause an explosion in the power plant. This caused Penny to struggle to stifle a gasp. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The things being said... There was no way this was an accident. The explosion had been intentional.

And King Zander himself had caused it.

“An explosion? Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s perfect.”

“But..what about....?”

“If they get hurt, it’ll be for a worthy cause. Besides, Rudy Tabootie and his ilk are a much bigger priority right now.”

“Well if you say so. I’m not entirely sure if this is the greatest thing to...”

“Just cross those wires!”

Everyone watched as the video showed Kairos tampering with the wiring. They watched as he flew off and then turned around, watching the explosion begin to tear through the building. They watched as he took off a few moments later, not even bothering to take a look back before the video fizzed, got staticy, and shut off.

There was a stunned silence for a few moments. People looked at other people. People stared at Kairos. People looked at King Zander. Mouths were open in shock. Teeth were gritted. Stunned expressions were on everyone’s faces.

None of the zoners in the audience even attempted to speak or call out to them as liars. In fact, none of them were looking at them. They were instead focusing on King Zander, their mouths dropping open, looking hurt and shocked and even angered by what had been displayed on the screen for all of them to see.

King Zander looked the most stunned. His mouth was open and his pupils were a little shrunk. His eyes were wide as he stared up at the screen. He looked almost mortified by this turn of events. And this time, he didn’t even bother trying to cry foul or defend himself. He knew he had been found out, and that nothing he said or did was going to change anything. Even Kairos was unable to say anything to defend his king. Some of the glares were towards him, too.

At first, King Zander glared angrily at them. He snorted a few times, looking ready to charge through them and crush them with his body. Penny arched herself and raised up her magic chalk, as did Rudy, both indicating that they weren’t afraid to use it if they had to.

Then, without warning, King Zander’s body began to shake. Not out of anger, but out of laughter. The king was laughing at them. An insane cackle as he leaned his head back his eyes shut and his mouth wide open as a demented smile distorted his face. Despite the laughter, there was still something bitter about it.

King Zander turned his head and looked at them. “Well...congratulations.. You’ve figured it out. Maybe you aren’t as dumb as I thought...” Penny, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo widened their eyes at this while Snap and Rudy glared. “Yes..I admit it!” He spread his hands outward. “I did it!” He forced a hoof finger against his chest as he leaned in towards them. “It was me!”

Penny took in a few quick breaths, trying her best to control her anger. “And the head deflator disease...?”

King Zander appeared to falter at first. Then he said, “I was the one to unleash it!”

There was a roar of protest coming from the citizens. This time, it was all geared towards King Zander. The deer looked up at them and bared his teeth for a few moments. Then, after he got sick of hearing them, he pointed towards them and began to shout at them.

“Oh shut up! You don’t know what I’ve been through! You don’t know what’s going on! You don’t know why I’m doing this! If you knew, then you would understand my motivations! I didn’t do this to hurt you! I did this to save you!”

But none of the citizens were believing him. They kept calling him a traitor, a monster, and a hypocrite. They kept demanding to know about what else he had lied about, and demanded for him to step down as king.

Their refusal to listen caused King Zander’s body to shake in rage. “Of course you won’t listen! You’re too closed minded to consider that there’s something deeper going on here than any of you can possibly realize!”

“We all know that’s a load of bull!” Rudy yelled, his voice overflowing in anger and hate. “You’re just making up excuses so you can continue to exploit people!”

“Why are you doing this?!” Snap’s body shook. “Why would you treat your own people that way?! Don’t you care about them?!”

King Zander’s eyes widened at this. “Of course I do! That’s why I had to do this!”

“What then?! Why are you doing this?!” Penny took a few steps forward. She pointed at the king accusingly. “Give us one good reason why you ‘had’ to do this!”

For a few brief seconds, there was a flash of...something in the king’s eyes. Penny could not pinpoint exactly what it was. Before she could figure it out, the king was back to glaring at them. He no longer seemed to be in the mood to talk. He just seethed at them before he bolted off towards Cychreides, his rage making him forget about Kairos’s condition.

In a matter of seconds, King Zander got on top of the metal dragon. He rested on its back, his legs pressing against protrusions obviously meant for feet. He pointed towards the group and shouted, “Attack!”

Cychreides immediately unleashed a beam that the group was barely able to dodge. The impact wasn’t far from them, and their feet wobbled. King Zander didn’t like this close call, having wanting a direct hit. He hissed as he pressed something against Cychreides, and there was a loud biiing type sound. The wings on the dragon were activated, causing the membrane to fill the spaces of the long digits. The metal dragon immediately took to the air and began to fly around.

Penny and the others watched, their heads following as the dragon circled around the arena. The citizens were getting up, though it was hard to say what they were going to do. The king’s guards, both winged and non-winged, were pointing their electric sticks at them, making them stay put. It was as if the king wanted them to bear witness to this.

Penny gasped in horror as Cychreides charged another beam and fired. “Look out!” She cried as she dove into the ground.

She and the others grunted as they hit the ground. The beam shot above them, grazing them with its warmth as it crashed against a wall. This one came much closer to hitting a citizen than the last one. A sign of increased carelessness from King Zander.

Penny looked up and watched as the dragon circled the air. She bit her lip as she stared at the others. Horror and shock was shining in their eyes. King Zander was a far bigger monster than they could have possibly imagined, and now he had them pinned down with his metal dragon, and the guards blocked all the exits. How were they going to get out of this?


	35. Skirmish In The Arena

Dodging the next attack from the dragon wasn’t easy. The beam had come so close. It crashed into the ground, creating a large, almost chasm-like dent in it. This hadn’t been the first one that was created, either. With the others that had been drawn across the ground, it was getting harder and harder to run off.

Rudy suspected that this is what King Zander had planned in this attack. He was having the dragon attack almost blindly, randomnly choosing spots and making it more difficult to get around. Sooner or later, they would be trapped, and there would be nothing they could do to get out of the way.

All around him, he could see the horrified and angered citizens. Unlike before, their anger wasn’t directed at them anymore. Okay, some of them were; he guessed that a few citizens were still loyal to King Zander. But the vast majority were now focused on the king himself. Judging from their expressions, they wanted to come down and help, but the guards were keeping them at bay, preventing any of them from offering assistance.

Rudy momentarily looked over at the walls around them. King Zander, in a haste, accidentally caused Kairos to be knocked over the wall. The king looked shocked, but it didn’t last long; it would seem that his rage at his plans falling apart all around him were clouding his judgment.

Rudy wondered if Kairos was fine, or if the fall gave him more injuries. The only thing that he would know for certain is that Kairos would not be reacting to the pain. Whether or not he would die.... Only time would tell. But either way, he would not escape justice now.

Whether Kairos remains alive and gets arrested, or if he perishes, he would pay the price either way. He could no longer hurt anyone. What happened to him now depended on fate.

But for now, he focused his attention on trying to dodge more of the dragon’s attacks. He flinched as his arm started to ache. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could handle. He could already feel his mouth getting dry. If he could just sit down and rest...

He let out a scream as a large, metallic paw was struck down not far from him. He screamed and jumped out of the way, nearly falling over his own feet doing so. The boy looked over, wide-eyed, as he saw his friends on the ground, having tripped from the attack.

“Guys! Get up!” Rudy called out to them.

Barney groaned and got himself up first. He grabbed onto King Mumbo Jumbo and helped him to his feet. Snap howled in pain when he stretched his side too much and staggered. Penny caught him, allowing him to lean against her.

Hearing the mechanical roar behind them, they looked up wide-eyed as the beast started to strike at them again. They stumbled forward, trying to move as quickly as they could. Rudy motioned with his hand quickly, shouting at them to hurry up. But he knew his voice alone wasn’t going to do anything, and all he could do was watch as they struggled to get towards him fast enough.

With a loud thud, the foot came down again. The force of this impact and its proximity caused the group to fall forward, crashing against Rudy as they laid on the ground. With a hiss, Cychreides pressed its calws agaisnt the ground, forcing it deep in the dirt. It pulled back, making several ‘gashes’ in the ground.

Rudy struggled to his feet, his broken arm aching, his other rubbing his head. He looked over and watched as the others struggled to their feet. As they helped each other up, Cychreides took a heavy step towards them, its mouth open, the metal teeth glinting in the light. They looked up and watched nervously, wondering what move the dragon was going to make next.

On top of the dragon, King Zander was smiling down at them. It was a rather eerie contrast; the fierce snarl of the dragon combined with the almost friendly smile of the king. Yet that smile still held hidden promises, which the king was making known right now.

“I really didn’t want to do this, you know. This isn’t what I had expected to happen when all of this began.” King Zander spoke. His voice was unusually calm compared to how he was just a short time ago. The contrast was..unsettling. “I was forced into this position, you see. Either I do this, or we will all suffer.”

Rudy growled at this. Did King Zander really expect anyone to buy this story? Maybe his loony followers like Kairos. But most of his citizens would know better by now. He had not done a damn thing in their favor. He only cared about himself. He was as big of a monster as General Kairos had been.

This so-called king had used and abused his own people. He lied to them about them on many occasions. He had gotten them worked up so they would hate them and not see what he was doing. He had manipulated him and his friends to make them look like the bad guys. He had caused the explosion at the power plant so that he could weave more lies about them. But the worst one of all was his confession of unleashing the head deflator disease.

The thought of him doing such a thing made him sick to his stomach. He had deliberately done something that caused the death of many of his people, and without remorse, too. Rudy could not even begin to imagine how many had suffered for this. Both those infected, and those who had to watch their loved ones fade away before them.

It was for this reason that Rudy knew that King Zander was not doing this for his people. If he cared and loved them as much as he claimed he did, he would not purposely endanger their lives all just to pin the blame on them. He would not do something so...twisted and evil and disgusting. Just...how could he do such a thing? His people looked up to him and trusted him to save them, and this was how he treated them. It was deplorable.

He and his friends glared at him, their expressions a mixture of hatred, anger, and fear. They tried to hold back, knowing that there was no way they could reason with the insane. But such a task turned out to be impossible. And soon, he could hear himself spilling out the words they all wanted to say.

“Don’t try to lie to us! We all know what you really are! You are a monster, King Zander! You lied to your own people, you used them... You let many of them die to the head deflator disease and then you blamed us for it! You don’t care about them at all! This....All of this happened because of you! Don’t you dare spread more of your lies! You already confessed and your people know the truth! Do you really think that you will be able to win back their support, knowing what you have done?!”

King Zander’s eyes widened a little at this. He stared down at Rudy, his mouth partially open. He looked as if he wanted to speak. Yet he still shut his mouth, his teeth clenching. It was as if he wanted to say something to him, but something was stopping him.

Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. He knew why the deer had gone silent. It was because he didn’t have any good reason for what he was doing. He was just struggling to find an excuse to justify his actions instead of taking responsibility for what he did. He was a coward, trying to run away with his tail between his legs.

Soon King Zander narrowed his eyes. “You could never possibly understand....”

Rudy gritted his teeth tightly at this. “You bet we wouldn’t! What kind of monster would do something like this?!”

King Zander replied, “It doesn’t matter what I say. I could have the most noblest of reasons...” He pointed a finger down at them. “And you would still call me a monster. You are too quick to place labels.”

“Too quick?!” Snap cried in shock. “What are you talking about, you big creepazoid?! You just confessed to allowing the injury and death of many of your own citizens! How are we ‘too quick to judge you’?!”

“Because...sometimes for the benefit of all, a few must suffer.” King Zander said, raising his head up. “You only see my actions and call me a monster. You don’t even try to see things my way...”

“Because you never gave us a reason! Ever since we came to this awful colosseum, you have been treating us like garbage! And now you have the gall to tell us that we don’t try look at things through your eyes?! How fucking dare you! After what you have done...how dare you say that we are the ones being closed minded!” Penny’s voice was brimming with anger, her breaths ragged, sucking in and out quickly.

King Zander narrowed his eyes slightly at this. “That’s because you would have gotten in the way. I know how you are, courtesy of your insect friend there. If I had told you what I was doing, you would have still called me a monster anyway. So the best thing to do was just...eliminate you.”

“But why? Why did you have to drag us down here?!” Rudy took a step forward. “Why not just keep this place isolated and then take care of your own problems if you are so confident you can do it? Why bring us down and try to kill us?!”

“We wouldn’t have been able to stop you if we didn’t know what you were doing!” Penny shouted.

King Zander widened his eyes for a few moments. At first, it almost looked as if he realized that he made a mistake. But whether or not he felt that way wasn’t apparent as his face contorted in a snarl. “I have had just enough of this! I’m going to get this over with before you have a chance to cause more damage!”

The zoners around in the audience protested at this.

“Stop this! Why are you doing this?!”

“What happened to make you act this way?”

“Let them go!”

“They didn’t do anything wrong! It was you! Why don’t you own up to your mistake?!”

King Zander paused for a moment and looked at his citizens. He turned his head from one side to the other, eyeing many of the zoners. Some were standing, others still sitting down. They stared at him, their eyes filled with anger, but also desperation. He growled at this, clenching his teeth.

Rudy felt some sense of relief that the citizens were trying to defend them. Maybe King Zander will listen to them. He made a big deal before of the majority decides all. Since most of his citizens wanted them to be alive, then maybe he would....

No, King Zander just merely disregarded their words as he turned his attention back to them. It was clear that the deer zoner had already made up his mind on what he wanted to do, and no matter what the majority said, he was still going to do this. It was at this time that Rudy reminded himself that he was not in a democracy; he was in a monarch. What the king said goes. If he wanted to do something against the wishes of the people, then he would do so.

That meant that the citizens could not do anything to convince their king otherwise, and they were stuck merely watching it all play out in front of them. Their words and pleas fell continued to fall on deaf ears as the king raised his hand in the air, preparing to launch another attack.

“Get them, Cychreides!” King Zander commanded. “Crush them! Don’t leave any of them alive!”

Cychreides let out a roar and reared onto his hind legs. Its wings spread out, the membranes glowing brightly. It open up its mouth, nearly unhinging its jaw. Its mouth began to glow. Everyone knew what this meant. Another beam was going to be launched out.

Rudy and the others stiffened where they were. They watched, unable to turn their eyes away from the beam that was about to be launched. They prepared themselves for the worst, their leg muscles tightening. Then, when the dragon fired, they moved away as quickly as they could. They couldn’t stifle their shockwaves of fear as they felt the beam narrowly miss them.

Coughing, they turned around, and their eyes widened in horror as the dragon began to charge towards them, its wings outstretched to help it move even faster. Rudy did not dare spare a word to his friends as they all turned and began to run.

sss

King Zander’s mind was pounding. He was hardly aware of anything around him. He ignored anything his citizens said. He ignored what his guards were doing. His mind was fully on those targets before him.

Rudy, Penny, Snap, Barney, and King Mumbo Jumbo.

He had hoped it would be easier than this. He had hoped that he would be able to complete this mission without many foul ups. He hadn’t done a good job apparently, and now he had been forced to expose his plans to his people improperly. He did feel some level of guilt and he wished he had more time to explain better.

But first, he had to take care of these guys. He needed them out of the way, before they ended up tainting anything else. They were going to make this a lot harder than it has to be. They were never going to understand his motivations, and they would continue to call him a monster. He needed to get rid of them.

As for his citizens... He still had enough guard support to help retain his throne, and he can always find a way to break the news to them so they would understand what he was trying to do. He had good reason for what he had done. He just needed time to explain.

He focused his attention on the fleeing group. He gritted his teeth, his fingers curving into a fist. Of course they were going to make things so difficult for him. Why couldn’t they just hold still? Things would go a lot faster if they just held still and allowed themselves to get lasted.

Then again, everyone was stubborn like that. He could not blame them for trying to survive. That did not mean he was liking this, though.

He grunted as Cychreides crashed himself against the ground in an attempt to strike at Penny. The girl was more agile than he thought, even with her injured leg. King Zander narrowed his eyes at this. He thought that she would be the easiest of the creators to strike down. Perhaps he should try Rudy next. Barking a single command, he turned his attention towards Rudy.

The boy was running off towards the right. He was slowing down a little, showing signs of exhaustion. He stared intently as the dragon rushed towards him. Thinking fast, he had Cychreides strike a tail in front.

Rudy crashed against the tail seconds later. He grunted and clutched his arm painfully, seething. He turned and looked up at him. His eyes widened in fear as Cychreides raised a paw into the air. King Zander gave a single nod, signalling the dragon to strike down.

Before the dragon could finish the attack, however, there was some movement on one side and the dragon wobbled. Growling, King Zander looked down to see what the problem was.

It was the old tortoise and the centipede... They had taken a broken stick, likely the same one that Penny used to slay his manticore, and jabbed it in a space in the dragon’s leg. He watched as Cychreides lifted its let up and tried to shake it. Each moment sounded horrible as the metal plates grinded against the stick, working extra hard to just move a centimeter.

King Zander curled his lip into a snarl. What a bunch of pesky little... He had Cychreides lift its leg up really high and fast, and this resulted in the stick being crushed into pieces. Cychreides stuck a claw in this space, scraping out the wood pieces before setting its foot down.

King Zander was tempted to go after those two, but decided it was best to stick to the creators. Thus far, they hadn’t attempted to draw anything to stop him with. He needed to take advantage of this hesitation and kill them before they think of drawing anything.

He turned his head and saw that Rudy was not too far away. He was still some ways off from his friends. Now was the perfect time to strike him down.

After Cychreides swatted King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney away with its tail, he had it bound towards Rudy quickly. Before anyone could react, before Rudy could get away fast enough, he had Cychreides take to the air and grab him with its paw. He then lifted him high into the air and Cychreides began to fly around in a circle.

“No! Put our friend down!”

“You monster! Stop that!”

King Zander could make out the cries from the boy’s friends, demanding that he put Rudy down. No, he would not. He had a better idea. He had Cychreides move towards one of the walls. Then, with a motion of his hand, he had the dragon slam Rudy against the wall as it still few. Rudy let out a scream as his body was scraped against the hard, sturdy wall.

“Rudy! No!” Penny shouted in horror.

King Zander ignored the cries that followed. They can shout and plead with him all they wanted to. That wasn’t going to stop him from doing this. With a smirk, he had Cychreides press further, and watched as the boy’s skin and clothes started to get ripped up.

Pointing his finger up in the air, he watched as Cychreides lifted Rudy up. He could hear the gears and wires in the dragon scrape and tighten as it gathered up all its strength in that leg, poised to strike the boy into the ground. Even as he heard protests coming from everywhere, even when he heard threats being tossed at him in desperation, King Zander still lowered his finger. A few seconds later, Cychreides struck down, preparing to have Rudy crushed against the ground and, hopefully, snap his neck. Then he could focus on Penny.

Suddenly, Cychreides’s grip on Rudy loosened and the boy fell to the ground. There wasn’t nearly enough force to kill him and he just laid on his back, groaning softly in pain. King Zander was about to command the dragon to grab him and try again, but something happened that he did not expect.

Cychreides began flapping its wings desperately, as if trying to get away from something. But despite how hard it was flapping, it was starting to move backwards. At this, King Zander’s eyes widened in shock. Why were they moving backwards? He turned his head and he saw the culprit.

He cursed himself for not paying more attention to his surroundings. If he had known, he would have seen Penny rushing to the side and draw that large magnet. The large, red and silver device was pulling Cychreides towards it relentlessly, refusing to let go. King Zander watched, his eyes narrowed and teeth bared, as Cychreides struggled to get away, scraping its claws against the ground frantically. It was not able to bat its wings properly with the pull.

Realizing that he was going to get crushed if he stayed on here, King Zander leaped off of the metal dragon. He landed on the ground, bent on one knee, his hand and hoof fingers holding himself up as if he were in an action pose. He turned his head and looked behind him.

He watched as Cychreides flapped as hard as it could. Which wasn’t much, considering it continued to be drawn towards the magnet. King Zander knew it was futile for it to resist, and soon the metal dragon was pinned firmly against the magnet. The dragon shrieked and roared in frustration as it wriggled and thrashed to free itself from the magnet.

King Zander did not want to waste time analyzing his new predicament. He turned his head and saw that Penny was just a few feet away. Lowering his head, he charged towards her. His clopping feet gave him away to her, but he was too fast for her to get out of the way in time.

He heard a distinct ripping sound of her skin and flesh as his sharp-tipped antlers sliced against her right arm, creating a series of long, though not too deep, gashes. Penny let out a scream as she stumbled backwards. She dropped her piece of magic chalk as she clutched her arm.

The deer zoner took this chance and dove towards the chalk, hoping to crush it before she had a chance to use it. He did not get too far when something flew right in front of him. He jumped back at the orange and pink blur, and looked up as Barney hovered over him. His wings were back... Looking over, King Zander saw that Rudy had his arm raised up, the tip sparkling. King Zander gritted his teeth. Why did he have to be so stupid and give them a piece of chalk? Why did he have to do something so idiotic?

He had gotten over confident. That was why. He was so certain he was going to win that he just didn’t think straight. He had wanted to make things ‘entertaining’ for his people, and now he was paying the price for that.

He turned his gaze up towards Barney. The centipede wasn’t flying too high. He noticed that Rudy had ended up drawing the wings attached to the holes on his back, instead of in a new location. The wounds were still present, and he could see the zoner’s face contorted a little in pain as he flapped to stay aloft. King Zander narrowed his eyes at this. Perhaps he could take advantage of this.

“Let them go!”

King Zander’s ears twitched at this. He turned his head and looked up. He could see one of his citizens leaning against the bars, staring down at him with a mixture of hatred and desperation.

“Please let them go! We can work something out!”

King Zander snarled at this. He merely snapped his hoof fingers and one of his guards grabbed the zoner and pushed her back, forcing her against one of the seats. King Zander smiled at this. His guards remained loyal to him, even after finding out the truth. He could trust on them to carry out his commands, even after they had learned the rather ugly truth about him.

He turned his head back to where Penny was. He still had a shot to kill her now if he took it. She still hadn’t moved from that spot. Yes...now was the time. Kicking at the ground with his hoof, he charged towards her. He collided with her and forced her against the wall, forcing air to get pumped out of her throat.

“Penny! No!” Rudy cried.

“Stop it!” Barney shouted. King Zander looked up and saw the bug zoner launch towards him as he was the closest.

The deer zoner narrowed his eyes at this. He then looked down at Penny. He gripped her damaged arm tightly, watching her yelp and cry in pain, pushing against him. Now was the time to make her move. He raised his hand into the air, the tips of his hoof fingers glinting in the light. Then, without hesitation, he struck down.

sss

Kairos opened up his eyes and coughed a few times. He let out a groan as he lifted up his head. He looked around, trying to see where he was. He could see a bunch of dirt, some stores....

Ah yes, that’s right. He had been flung out of the arena. That would explain why he felt a little dizzy. His head still hadn’t quite recovered from all the spinning he had done when he crashed. He pushed his wings on the ground and attempted to to push himself up, only to fall back down.

His eyes widened when he remembered that his back was still broken. He turned his head and stared at it. He flinched at how bad it looked, his heart pounding in his chest. He shut his eyes, rewatching that horrible scene over and over again in his head, of Cychreides striking against him and causing him to collide into the ground at an odd angle. Then the snap and...

Rudy looked like he was going to kill him. Kairos shivered at the memory. The boy looked so darn ready to just finish him off. And he’d be able to do it, too. He had no way to escape. He was..and still is, completely helpless. Even using his metal feathers in defense no longer worked all that well as he can’t use them affectively on the ground.

He had no idea if Rudy would have really gone through with it or not, but he knew that Rudy had every reason to kill him. Kairos was not stupid. He was aware of what effect his actions would have had on them. He had known that, if he had ever had the tables turned on him, that they would take the opportunity to ‘take care of him’.

He had never felt so terrified in his life. Even now, the tears still streamed down his face. He could feel his body quake, or at least his upper half. He sniffled as he tried to cope with the intense fear growing inside of him. Not being able to move his feet was horrible. He was stuck on the ground, just as helpless as his victims...as his brother...

It just wasn’t fair. This shouldn’t have happened to him. This should only happen to those whom he decided to toy with. Stuff like this wasn’t allowed to happen to him. He could feel frustration and terror rise up inside of him and he was unable to hold back the wail that escaped from his mouth.

He had to get out of here. He needed to find someplace safe to hide. He needed to wait until the king took care of the surface dwellers. He had to wait until King Zander was able to fix everything. Then he would come and help him. King Zander did not want to lose his best general. He would help him...right?

Or would he? Kairos had to consider the possibility that King Zander would decide that he could not be saved and let him be killed. The thought chilled his blood. He..He didn’t want to die. He didn’t deserve to die... It couldn’t end this way. No...

Kairos knew what he had to do. He needed to crawl away somewhere, anywhere, and hide. He needed to let his body heal, and then go back and hope he could re-earn his place as the king’s general. He had fought so hard for that position. He was not going to lose it.

But as he started to crawl away, he could hear footsteps behind him. He froze for a moment, wondering who it could be. For a split second, he thought it might be his brother. He calmed himself when he reminded himself that his brother was still locked up.

Then..who could it be?

“Why hello there...”

Kairos froze at that voice. No...it couldn’t be... Not him...

“It’s been a while since I last saw you. I take it you are still...taking care of yourself...”

Kairos turned his head as he saw the figure starting to approach him. He didn’t want to stare at him for long, for fear that he may incur his wrath. He struggled with his wings against the ground, trying to crawl away as quickly as possible. But no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to move fast enough. Even as he wriggled his body from side to side, even as he clawed against the ground, he was just not able to get enough traction.

Seconds later, he could feel a wait being pushed against him. He grunted as he found his head twisted to the side and pushed against the dirt. He looked up at the zoner before him, taking in shuddering, fear-filled breaths. He knew, with growing, cold dread, that if this zoner decided to do something to him, then he would have full, complete power to do so, and he would not be able to resist.

“Oh the things I could do to you right now...”

Kairos shut his eyes tightly, tears dripping down his face. Oh why did he have to cross this zoner? Why did he ever deal with him?

The zoner gave a chuckle. “But...I have a better idea.”

Kairos opened his eyes and was aware of the zoner not making a move to further any damage or even kill him. But why not? He was helpless. Wouldn’t it make sense to...

His thought processes were interrupted when he felt himself being dragged by the zoner. He looked up and saw that the zoner had gripped one of his wings, his claws pressing against the skin. The zoner had a twisted smile on his face. Kairos felt his heart pound in his chest. Just where was this guy going to take him?

sss

Rudy wasn’t really sure what drove him to draw this. He couldn’t recalla ny of this thought processes behind it. All he could think about was trying to get Penny away from this monster. He only had seconds to react, and his mind went on full instinct.

His hand moved through the air faster than he ever thought possible. The black lines filled the empty space in front of him. The zoners were looking at him with a mixture of fear and awe, yet Rudy did not pay attention, nor did he hear anything that his friends were telling him. All he could hear was Penny’s screaming and King Zander attempting to strike her down.

In seconds, he drew a long sword, the blade incredibly sharp. Not something he would normally draw. The shock of this was lost on him, however, as he continued to react on instinct. He grabbed the sword, the top edge thicker and blunter than the bottom, and he raced towards where Penny was still pinned. With a yell, Rudy jabbed his sword forward as quickly as he could.

The king’s claws slammed down on top of it, the blade blocking his path to Penny’s throat. The impact caused the sword to shake and tremble a little. King Zander moved his hand away and stared at the blade in shock. He whipped his head over and noticed Rudy standing there, his hand gripping the handle of the sword tightly.

King Zander stared in shock for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes. Rudy glared back and pointed the sword towards his neck, forcing the king to lean back. His pupils stared at the sword, some level of fear showing in his eyes. The scowl remained as the zoner refused to show submission to the boy.

“Let my friend go...” Rudy demanded, his voice low and growly. He glared at the zoner intensely, keeping the sword pointed in his direction. A part of Rudy could hardly believe what he was doing, but his anger was overriding his judgment. “Or else...”

King Zander glared at him. He was silent for a few moments. Rudy did not pay attention to the reactions of anyone else around him. Only King Zander. Rudy did his best to hold back, but he was not sure how long it would take before he would end up doing something more drastic. All it would take is a small shove in that direction, and he just might do the unthinkable.

This was a thought that, normally, would frighten him. But in the heat of the moment, he was not aware of these feelings. Only determination, and anger at what King Zander had almost done to his friend. He would not do that again.

The king did not look interested in letting Penny go. Even though he was clearly intimidated by how close the sword was to his throat, he was not backing down. He bared his teeth and, with a swift motion, grabbed Penny’s shoulders and pulled her right in front of him. Penny let out a grunt at this.

Rudy’s eyes widened in horror and he pulled his sword back quickly before the tip could graze her. Penny struggled to get free, but King Zander held on tightly. He locked his arm against her neck and his hand gripped her head. As he tightened his hold, Rudy realized instantly what this zoner was going to do.

“No! Stop!” Rudy’s eyes bulged. “Don’t do it!”

King Zander’s mouth ticked in a twisted smile. “Try to hurt me...” He pushed on Penny’s head, bending her neck and making her cry out in pain. “And I will snap your friend’s neck in two...”

Rudy felt his heard pound at this. He was frozen, unable to move. He stared at Penny, locking eyes with her. She looked at him, her eyes filled with fear. She had stopped struggling at this point, clearly fearing of hastening the king’s killing of her if she moved around too much.

King Zander kept his eyes on the boy, his mouth still twisted in that grin. There was that insanity glint in them, and that alone told Rudy that King Zander would not hesitate to hurt his friend if he did anything to give him a reason to. Rudy would need to figure out some way to help his friend and fast. But..in this position, how was he going to be able to do anything?

But..he couldn’t give up. There had to be away. He just needed to look at the situation at a new angle. He, Snap, and definitely not King Mumbo Jumbo couldn’t rush over. Barney couldn’t fly over as King Zander was wise to him. If any zoners in the audience wanted to help, they could not. The king’s guards were all blocking them, still clearly loyal to the king despite his confession.

He turned back to Penny, looking at her worriedly and sympathetically. She looked like she was in pain. The king wasn’t exactly being gentle as he held onto her. It looked as if some of her air supply was being cut off, too. Penny had to open her mouth wider just to take in a decent breath.

At first, he thought that maybe Penny could secretly draw her way out. But there was a problem with that. How could she do that when she had no piece? Barney had it at the moment.

Rudy could feel his heart sink at this. He realized just how stuck he was. He couldn’t draw anything without the king reacting. His friends could not make a move towards him. There was no one else who could help them. How were they going to get Penny out of there?

Suddenly, King Zander let out a grunt and staggered back. Rudy stared in confusion as he was flinching in pain. Rudy couldn’t understand. Just what happened? It didn’t take him too long to find out.

Penny had kicked him in the leg. Rudy hadn’t even noticed Penny going in for the attack because he was too busy staring at her and King Zander’s faces. This move was unexpected even from King Zander, and he recoiled back swiftly. He gripped his leg with his hand, his teeth clenched tightly. Before the king could make another move against Penny, Barney took this opportunity to launch himself at him, affectively pinning the king against the ground.

While Barney and King Zander wrestled, Penny picked up the magic chalk that Barney had dropped. Moving her damaged right arm around looked painful and difficult. But it still looked as if she could manage.

Rudy and the others moved towards Penny quickly, looking at her up and down in worry.

“Are you okay, Buckette?” Snap’s voice was a little more high pitched than normal. “He didn’t hurt you that badly, did he?”

“No..I’m fine.” Penny rubbed her throat.

“Are you sure? You don’t look fine.” King Mumbo Jumbo noted. He was staring intently at her neck. “He looked like he was holding onto you pretty hard.”

Penny nodded her head. “It’s okay. I’m fine, guys. Really.” Penny looked over at where Barney and King Zander were fighting. Her eyes instantly bulged open. “Barney!”

At this, they all turned their heads at what was going on. At this point, King Zander had gotten the upperhand and had Barney pinned down. He was striking at Barney’s legs, trying to damage as many as he could to cripple him. The sight of this created a burning chill in their chests. They did not waste time and they rushed over to help the centipede.

sss

Barney’s mind raced as he struggled against the king. If he wasn’t afraid of the king before, he was certainly terrified at this point. He stared up constantly at him, not willing to turn his eyes away. He couldn’t help but feel flashbacks come into his head about how this king had treated him and his best friend, and now those cold eyes upon him felt more like ice blizzards.

King Zander was holding him down with his weight. Despite Barney being longer, he did not seem to have the same level of strength as an angered and infuriated King Zander. The adrenaline pumping inside of him must be intense, granting him the ability to hold him down. Even as his body wriggled and thrashed, King Zander still managed to hang on.

Barney tried to push him off of him. He grabbed his arm and pushed against it as hard as he could. But it was useless. No matter how hard he pushed, the king simply wasn’t budging. The tide had shifted quickly, and he was unable to stop the blows against his legs.

King Zander was attacking at random. He chose a leg and would strike it. He was only doing punches and slashes. He was not attempting to break any of the legs. At first, this confused the centipede. Why would the king waste so many blows this way? Why not just grab his legs and start snapping them? Not that he wasn’t unhappy; he was glad that king wasn’t doing that. He was just confused.

When the king struck in one of his legs and he felt a shooting pain go through it, Barney realized exactly what the king was trying to do. He was attempting to hurt as many of his legs as he could so that he would have a difficult time standing and getting away. At this realization, his heart began to pound. If he got too hurt to try to run off...

He let out a scream as one of his legs was struck again. He could feel a bit of blood start to seep from it. He wanted to look at it, but as soon as he turned his head, King Zander shoved him down harder, causing him to look up at the angered deer zoner.

“I should have had your wings clipped as soon as you came here...” King Zander growled under his breath. “I should have gotten rid of you as soon as I had enough information. I was a fool.” King Zander narrowed his eyes further. “I will not continue making that mistake.”

Barney shook his head. “You can’t do this! How could you do something so cruel?!”

King Zander hissed, “I am only doing what I know is right. You couldn’t possibly understand!”

“Then why don’t you tell me?! Why don’t you tell all of us what is really going on?!” Barney wailed at him. “How could we understand if you don’t even try to tell us what is happening?!”

King Zander paused at this. At first, it looked as if he had finally gotten through to him. Maybe now the king would attempt to see reason and try to at least explain more of why he is doing this.

But no, turned out the king wasn’t that reasonable. The pause only lasted a short time, and he went right back to trying to hurt him. Not that this act surprised him, but Barney couldn’t help but feel disappointed. How could the king expect anyone to understand if he never bothered to tell them? If there was something more going on, he needed to say something.

Or perhaps there was nothing else going on. Perhaps it really was just him trying to find an excuse for whatever his plans were. Going to the surface, strengthening his hold on his peope, whatever else. In that case, then the king was just trying to make it sound like he had a good, noble reason to hide the fact taht he was really just being a gigantic douche.

Barney was suddenly aware of a stabbing, sharp pain in his arm. King Zander had grabbed onto it and, pressing his hoof against his face, forcing it to the side, he started to bend his arm, clearly trying to snap it in two.

Barney wriggled and writhed on the ground in pain as he tried to get King Zander to let go. He tried striking with as many feet as he could. He could not make much of a blow as several of his legs were starting to ache. Others, he couldn’t even get a good angle to strike at. He tried forming a fist with his hand and punching him, but that wasn’t getting him anywhere. Out of desperation, he did the only thing he hadn’t tried.

He bit down on King Zander’s arm. The deer immediately reacted. A scream eminated from his throat as he released his arm. He pulled his hand back, staring at his arm for a few seconds before glaring down at Barney. The centipede gulped as he realized what a mistake he had just made. He tried to struggle to get away, but there was no way he could dodge the sharp-tipped hooves as they came down towards his face.

“No!”

Barney and King Zander turned their heads just in time to see Snap, who had gotten to them first, launch himself in the air. He landed on top of King Zander’s head, causing the deer to stagger back. Barney felt himself being helped up by King Mumbo Jumbo. His eyes remained on Snap, filled with shock.

Despite his side wound, Snap managed to hang onto King Zander. The deer zoner was shouting at him, demanding that he let go, threatening him if he didn’t. Snap, however, wasn’t having any of it. He wrapped his arms and legs around his head, blocking his field of vision. King Zander was trying to pull him off, but Snap simply wasn’t budging.

Soon, King Zander grew wise. After failing to pull Snap up even by grabbing his cape and nearly choking him, King Zander turned his head towards the ground, the nearest hard surface that he knew of. Barney widened his eyes as Rudy and Penny shouted in protest, but nothing they said would slow down King Zander.

It took only seconds for King Zander to smash his head against the ground with Snap on him. The zoner let out a grunt of pain. Somehow, he still managed to hang on. This changed after the second and third blow, where he started to wobble a little, his grip loosening. King Zander didn’t look like he enjoyed it too well, but his determination overrode that. He took advantage of Snap’s loosened grip and grabbed onto his cape. This time when he pulled, Snap’s hands and feet slipped out and now he was hung fright in front of him, held up like some cat by its scruff.

“Put him down! Don’t hurt him!” Rudy shouted at the king.

“Please leave him alone!” Penny cried.

King Zander ignored them, just like Barney thought he would. The centipede watched with a racing mind as King Zander pulled Snap higher into the air, eyeing him like he was the most disgusting thing he had found. Snap was trying to fight back, but any of his kicks and punches only struck at air. King Zander wrinkled his nose in disgust at this.

At first, it looked like King Zander was going to say something, perhaps mocking them or scolding them. But he instead remained quiet. And what he did do instead was nothing short of horrific.

He raised his hoof and struck Snap against his injured side. This low, dirty move caused Snap to scream loudly, his eyes widened in so much pain. This horrified Barney and the others, and there were several gasps in the audience as many of the citizens reacted to the dreadful attack on Snap. Even some of the guards, who still held the citizens back, looked a bit alarmed by this.

Barney felt his heart tighten when he saw Snap start to cry. He could see the tears flow down his face as the horrible, immense pain spread through his body, making it quiver.

The sight of this caused Barney to flash back to when he was tortured by Kairos. He remembered what it felt like, being in so much pain that he couldn’t help but cry. And now Snap was going through a similar experience. And Snap was just a little kid. How could the king be so cruel as to do something like that to someone so young?

They all gasped when King Zander raised his hand again. They all wanted to rush forward and try to stop him, but they remained frozen where they were, afraid that if they moved in too quickly, they would only make things a lot worse.

That didn’t stop their voices, however.

“No! Don’t you dare!” Rudy held up his magic chalk. “I swear, if you hurt him, I’ll...!”

King Zander whipped his head towards Rudy. The sudden, intense glare caused the boy to stagger slightly. “I will do much worse if you dare raise that chalk against me.” He turned his head when he noticed Penny was trying something. “The same goes for you, girl. Stay out of this!”

Snap struggled in his grasp, trying to pry his hoof hand from his cape. “Please...let me go... I-I’m sorry... Please!”

King Zander eyed him coldly. “It’s too late for that.”

Before Barney knew it, King Mumbo Jumbo reacted. He watched as his friend grabbed onto the sword, taking it from Rudy’s hand and rushing towards King Zander, moving faster than he thought possible on his damaged leg. The old tortoise pulled his arm back and tossed it.

The sword sailed through the air swiftly. They all eyed it, watching it as it struck against King Zander’s side, creating a long, bloody gash, tearing into his purple robe and causing him to stagger and wince. The deer king loosened his grip on Snap a little, but soon managed to tighten his grip. He looked down at the tear in his side, and then looked over at King Mumbo Jumbo.

That sudden act of violence from the usually peaceful old tortoise was something that shocked not only the king, but Barney, Snap, and the two children. In all his life, Barney rarely ever seen the tortoise do anything all that violent. He was a peaceful old fellow. For him to launch such an attack at someone else, even if it was a villain, was something that was out of his character. Given what the king had put him through, however, this was not too surprising.

However, this backfired against them. Instead of letting go of Snap, as King Mumbo Jumbo had intended, King Zander merely threw Snap into the ground. The zoner coughed from the dust, and immediately started to scream as King Zander grabbed his leg. Snap kicked his free leg and his arms flailed as he tried to get away.

Rudy and Penny began to rush forward, holding up their magic chalk and moved their arms down to start to draw something. But they had not moved quickly enough, and they could do nothing but watch in horror as King Zander made his move.

There was a sickening crack as Snap’s leg was broken in the middle of his shin. The zoner let out a bloodcurdling scream, intermixing with the resounding crack. King Zander stared at him coldly, showing no reaction to his scream except twitching ears. Then he lifted the zoner by his broken leg cruelly and slammed him into the ground.

For a few moments, there was a stunned silence. Everyone stared at the scene in utter horror. Many zoners looked at each other, most unabled to tear their eyes away from the horrific sight. There were some cries and whispers coming from them as they wondered if Snap was okay.

Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo were absolutely stunned, unable to believe what had just happened. Neither of them could fathom it. A few moments ago, Snap had been struggling against the king. Now his leg had been broken like it was a toothpick, now bent at an odd angle, and he was writhing and crying on the ground, harder than before. The sight was absolutely horrible.

Rudy and Penny were the most shocked and horrified by this. Their bodies were shaking in emotion, anger and horror registering on their faces. They couldn’t move their eyes away from their sobbing friend. Their hands formed into fists, shaking them. They whipped her heads at King Zander, their teeth clenched and breaths seething.

“Why the fuck did you do that?!” Penny screamed at the king, her voice laced in anger.

“You monster!” Rudy snarled, his body giving a few slight shakes. “How could you do something like that?!”

King Zander just narrowed his eyes coldly. He did not make any attempt to speak. Not even a retort or a jeer. He raised his foot into the air and prepared to stomp it against Snap’s skull.

Suddenly, there was a flash of color, a quick blur, and the king was knocked off of his feet. The movement had come so fast, it took everyone a moment to register that it really did happen.

A zoner had rushed against the king. From the sky all the way down. A thud, dust kicked up, and then a collision, another thud, and King Zander was down. The deer zoner coughed loudly as he tried to get the dust out of his mouth. The zoner stood and glared at him while Rudy and Penny rushed to their friend. Penny gently cradled Snap against him, trying to shush him and calm him down. Rudy glared over at the king, and then looked at the newcomer zoner in curiosity.

Barney recognized this zoner as one of the guards. But...why was she down here? What was she doing? Was it possible that not all of the guards were such willing followers of the king?

King Zander looked equally shocked by this, as did everyone in the audience and the other guards. Eyes were wide and mouths were open and some hands were on mouths. The king slowly climbed to his feet and faced the guard. He took in a few quick breaths, and then narrowed his eyes slowly.

“You...How dare you go up against your king like this...” King Zander was clearly holding back a lot of anger.

The female zoner, who appeared to be a humanoid reptilian. Her eyes and head shape looked very serpent like. She glared at him, her eyes boiling with the intensity of many suns. “I have seen quite enough! I think you’ve caused far enough damage, King Zander!”

King Zander took a few steps towards her, his ears flattening against his head. “I’m warning you... If you don’t back down...”

“Or what? You going to infect me with that disease?!” She pointed her electric weapon at the king, causing the deer to freeze. “We only agreed to this because you promised no one would get hurt! I have been patient, because I trusted that you would be able to keep it from going too far. Well I was wrong! I’ve had enough! And breaking that boy’s leg was only the tip of the ice berg! I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time...”

King Zander’s eyes widened in horror as the snake humanoid seemed to be preparing to fire. Then his eyes narrowed again. “For the last time... Lay down your weapon... Or you’re going to be punished...”

The snake humanoid refused to back down. “How about you step down, King Zander?”

There was a series of gasps at this. Zoners looked at each other. Barney couldn’t believe his ears. Rudy and Penny were both shocked as well. King Zander took a step back, as if the snake humanoid had struck him with something heavy and thick.

King Zander managed to regain control of himself and narrowed his eyes hatefully. “So...you are not going to back down...? You won’t do the right thing and set down that stick before you get punished..?”

The female zoner narrowed her eyes. “I would rather die than continue surving a cowardly, slimey king like yourself.”

King Zander looked almost hurt by that comment. It was as if he was going to regret what he was going to do. But that did little to stop him from taking action. “Then..so be it...”

To everyone’s shock, King Zander suddenly rushed forward. He moved too quickly for the snake zoner to react. She attempted to shoot at him. She could only get one shot out, which the king dodged, before the deer had closed in the gap too quickly. He lowered his head and rammed her against her chest. His antler tips pierced her skin and as he flipped his head up, small gashes appeared. They were shallow, but the force still knocked her back.

Before the guard could react, King Zander grabbed onto a broken metal shard from one of Kairos’s wings, which was laying nearby, and pressed it against her throat. The snake zoner didn’t have any time to say anything before the king slit her throat open.

There were a series of gasps and cries of horror as the snake humanoid thrashed on the ground, her body twitching and writhing. She struggled to breathe, and only managed to make gurgling sounds. She soon fell still and silent, a pool of blood forming on the ground.

sss

King Zander took in a few quick breaths as he stared down at the dead form of the guard. His mind was racing, going a million miles per hour. He found it difficult to comprehend what he had just done.

At first, anger had clouded his mind. He could see nothing but red. And he had reacted. He had been so enraged that this zoner had dared speak up against him that he lost control of himself. He had been so worried of the plan falling apart, he did not stop to consider the consequences of his actions.

Now one of his guards laid dead at his feet. The horror of his action started to seep in and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He didn’t dare look at anyone else. He just stared down at the unmoving zoner. He hadn’t meant to do this. This isn’t what he wanted. He took a few steps back, the look of horror slowly etching itself onto his face. He tried to deny it, but he knew it was true.

He had just slain one of his own guards. One of his own people. It was one thing to have something like the explosion set up. He could pretend he had nothing to do with it. Or had done it against the foreigners. But this? He couldn’t push back the guilt this time, nor could he try to act like it was an accident, or caused by someone else. And he had committed this act in front of everyone.

He took a moment and looked around. He hardly paid attention to the citizens. They didn’t look much different. Maybe a little more horrified, but nothing that surprised him or made him feel more wary than before.

No, instead his eyes turned to his guards. Most of them had looks of shock on their faces. Some were even loosening their grips on the citizens and moving back to stare at him. And a few had contorted faces of anger. The king immediately realized what this meant.

In a split second, one of the flying guards dove down towards him, letting out a yell. King Zander backed up as quickly as he could. Before the flying guard could even reach him, another flying guard smashed into him. The two guards began to fight each other.

This soon gave way to all of the guards fighting. Half still on King Zander’s side despite what happened, and half against him.

While King Zander felt some level of happiness that some of his guards hadn’t abandoned him, he couldn’t help but express some worry what might happen if the guards on his side failed. What would the remaining guards do to him? He needed to get out of here fast. He needed to figure out a way out of this situation and settle everything down.

He turned his head towards the metal dragon. If he could just free Cychreides somehow...

“Oof!” King Zander found himself pushed against the ground. He shook his head and looked over. His eyes widened when he saw it was Cyd. He couldn’t help but gasp in shock. He had thought that Cyd would have been someone on his side.

Cyd raised his weapon, glaring at him, before moving to strike down. “This is for my friend!”

King Zander’s eyes widened in realization. He knew he didn’t have time to say anything, so he looked away and waited for the blow. He heard a thud and turned his head and saw that another boar guard had charged Cyd. Now the two were wrestling on the ground, fighting one another. King Zander took this oppportunity to rush to the metal dragon.

“He’s getting away!”

“Stop him!”

“No, leave our king alone! He has good reason for what he did!”

“Shut up, you traitor!”

King Zander ignored the banter as he rushed towards Cychreides. All he had to do was get on the dragon and activate the thrusters. That should allow the thing to break free from the magnet and fly around. All he would need to do is kill Rudy and Penny, and everything would be fine. Even if he is no longer ‘king’, at least he would be able to rest knowing that he had done what he could to keep this place safe.

Before he could get too far, he felt something wrap around his leg. He turned his head just in time to see Rudy yank something back. King Zander fell into the ground, having lost his balance. He pushed himself up, coughing a few times. He glared back and watched as Rudy started to reel him in.

King Zander used his hoof fingers to slice through the thin rope and he got back up to his feet. He didn’t waste time saying anything to Rudy and he continued running towards Cychreides.

“Oh no you don’t...!” Called out a feminine voice behind him.

King Zander felt something wrap around his body, pinning his arms. He noticed it was some kind of jump rope. He looked back and this time, it had been Penny who had drawn something. Before King Zander could do anything, Rudy had charged forward and swung out with a recently drawn bat. This caused his feet to get knocked up and he fell into the ground. He then felt the weight of the two kids on him, holding him down.

King Zander struggled against them, kicking his legs wildly. Rudy and Penny kept him down despite their wounds, their minds clearly on rage mode after what he had done to their friend. King Zander couldn’t help but feel his heart twist. Perhaps it really had been a mistake to hurt Snap like that.

He gave a grunt when he felt someone grip his head and force it down. He opened up his eye and looked up to see King Mumbo Jumbo. He guessed Barney was too busy looking after Snap, whom he could still hear sniveling, to come.

The old tortoise put his face close to his and snarled. “You disgust me... Never in my left have I ever seen a king act this way... You are no king! You’re a monster! You don’t deserve that title! A king is supposed to look after his people, not abuse and use them like they were nothing more than mere toys!”

King Zander didn’t bother talking back to him. He just glared. What could a foreigner possibly understand of his situation? Nothing. He was too stubborn to see the truth. Why bother trying to argue with him? He focused instead on trying to get away. He thrashed about on the ground, pulling his legs back and kicking them out constantly.

He soon hit a mark, kicking Rudy in the shin and forcing him to drop on his knees. With one less person holding on, King Zander regained more movement. He jerked his head free and struck out against King Mumbo Jumbo, creating a gash along his arm. The old zoner recoiled in pain, and King Zander took this opportunity to bite down on the ropes and rip through them. With a mighty push, he managed to, though a bit painful, free his arms. He jumped up to his feet and continued running.

He was going to make this right. He was going to turn the tides back. He was going to make sure that everything would work out in the end. There was still time. There was still a chance. He just needed to get to Cychreides.

sss

“No!” Rudy spluttered as he climbed up to his feet. “He’s almost to that metal dragon!” He took a few steps forward, holding out his magic chalk. “We need to... Argh!” Rudy fell onto one knee. “Blast this leg!”

Penny rushed over to his side, wincing in pain herself. She looked at his leg, looking at it up and down. “It looks swollen. I think King Zander hit you harder than it looked.”

Rudy could not deny that. It felt like someone had swung a hammer to his leg. He clutched it tightly with his right hand, the magic chalk dropping out of his hand. There was no way he could run very fast for a while with this bad bruising. He turned to Penny. “He needs to be stopped!”

Penny turned to where King Zander was running. She narrowed her eyes and nodded her head. “Don’t worry. I’m on it!”

Rudy watched as Penny rushed after the king, raising her magic chalk. Rudy gave a small smile at this. He trusted that she would be able to stop him, and they could finally apprehend the king.

He felt a hand around his arm and he was pulled up. He turned his head and saw that it was King Mumbo Jumbo. He gave him a small smile, but his expression was mostly worry. Rudy placed a hand on his arm and nodded his head once, answering the king’s unspoken question.

Rudy took a moment to look around at the colosseum. He could see the citizens moving back, cringing as the guards fought in front of them. None of the citizens dared to leave, as if fearing that they would get caught in the mess of the fighting. With all the rolling around, shouting, biting, and clawing, as well as shooting of electricity, Rudy could not blame them for not wanting to try leaving.

Rudy was in utter shock by how many of the guards had turned against the king. A lot more than he would have imagined. He and the others had thought that the guards would have been the ones most likely to be on the king’s side, especially after how they had been treated. But it would seem that they had misjudged them, and some were capable of seeing reason. He hoped that those reasonable guards can continue to hold out against the loyalists; he wasn’t sure how much longer they would last or when the tides would turn against them once more.

He turned his head and saw that Penny had drawn a shield around the king. He wasn’t sure how she managed to do that, but at least the king was held back for now.

But for how long?

Rudy tried again to walk forward, but the pain in his leg stopped him. He nearly fell back onto the ground. He needed to lean against King Mumbo Jumbo for support. He looked up at the tortoise thankfully. At least he was around to help him stay on his feet.

He looked down at where Snap was. The zoner was still awake, but groaning constantly in pain. Rudy shuddered at the sight of his broken leg. He felt a rush of anger as he remembered how the injury came about. He shook his head, pushing away those thoughts.

Pointing towards the chalk, he said, “Can you grab that for me?”

“Sure thing.” King Mumbo Jumbo used his good leg to smash against the ground in such a way that it caused the chalk to be flipped into the air. He grabbed it easily and then he brought it over towards Rudy. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” Rudy said with a smile.

He was torn. Should he help Penny with capturing King Zander? Or should he help Snap? A part of him wanted to help Penny. With two creators, there was little chance of King Zander getting away. But...Snap was in a lot of pain... He needed help. But..was he really qualified for it? He didn’t know exactly what he should do. What if he messed up and accidentally made things a whole lot worse?

Yet those screams and cries.... He couldn’t just neglect him. He turned his head towards Penny. At the moment, she seemed to have everything under control. Yeah, she can handle things for now. He turned his attention to Snap.

“What should I draw for him first?” Rudy asked.

“Well...I’m not a doctor...” King Mumbo Jumbo admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

“I think some strong painkillers and tranquilizers will be necessary.” Barney said. His eyes were narrowed a little. “Then we will need something to put his leg back together and hold it still, and a few other things.”

Rudy wasn’t sure how much doctor experience Barney had. But he did remind himself of Barney’s vast knowledge of ChalkZone’s history. It is more than likely that he knew exactly what he was talking about. He did not hesitate to start drawing what Barney had described.

sss

Penny glared hatefully at King Zander. Even with all the loud fighting going on, bodies slamming, zoners screaming, she could still hear the king very clearly as he kept striking the shield, demanding to be set free. Penny refused to comply, and just folded her arms, continuing to glare at him.

She was doing her best to control herself. It was tempting to lash out at this monster for what he had done. But she knew that would be an awful idea. She didn’t want to make things worse for herself. She needed to chill. She took in a deep breath and sighed. At least the king was subdued for the time being. Everything was going to be fine now.

Or at least, she hoped. She looked all around at the fighting zoners, biting her lip. She wondered which side of the guards was going to win. The ones for the king, or against?

She wanted to help, but she had to stay here and keep an eye on the king. She needed to save whatever magic chalk she had left to stop him in case he tried to flee. She and Rudy still had a decent amount of chalk left, but neither of them knew just how much they were going to use.

And Rudy was using most of his remaining chalk helping Snap. Penny looked over momentarily, watching as Barney instructed Rudy on what to do. She smiled slightly, glad that Snap was being taken care of right now. This allowed her to focus her chalk on King Zander.

She turned to glare at him again. Seeing Snap in that horrible condition reminded her of what King Zander did to him. She couldn’t believe that he would so heartlessly strike at Snap’s wound like that, and then later break his leg in two. Poor Snap was in a lot of pain now because of this monster. Just what did Snap do to deserve what he got?

And it wasn’t just Snap whom the king had hurt. So many countless people suffered because of him and his greed and whatever he was planning. He was a cold, ruthless king who thought nothing of hurting his own people just to get what he wanted. He did not stop to think about his own people and what he was doing to them. All that mattered to him is what he wanted. He proved this all too well when he killed one of his own guards in cold blood.

Now that act was biting back against him. The only reason the king hadn’t been attacked by the guards was that half were still on his side. She wasn’t sure why they would defend the king after what he had done. But she was aware that there are some people who will blindly defend a corrupt leader, regardless of what they know about them. So this did not surprise her.

However, it would seem that her attempts at holding back the king were not as good as she had hoped.

There was a loud crack and Penny moved back as the shield was broken down. The king’s hand was placed forward, the tips pointed down, indicating that he had ripped it open. Penny’s eyes widened and she quickly raised her chalk to draw again.

“No, not this time.” King Zander rushed to her and knocked the chalk out of her hand. Her eyes widened as she watched it roll away. She turned her head towards the king just in time for him to backhand her. “Not ever again!”

Penny coughed and groaned as she struggled to get back up to her feet. She shook her head as she looked out at where King Zander was running. Her eyes bulged open. “No!”

She quickly climbed up to her feet, grabbed the chalk, and ran over towards the king. She tried to draw something, but her stunned mind could not think of anything that she could draw to stop the king in time. And by the time she could start to think of something, it was already too late.

King Zander had reached Cychreides.

“Oh no! He’s gotten to the dragon!”

“What are we going to do?!”

Penny really wasn’t sure. How could she think of any way to stop him if she didn’t even know what the king was going to do? The dragon was stuck and the king knew that. So why would he rush all the way over here to the dragon? What was the king hoping to accomplish?

...unless he knew something about the dragon that they didn’t...

Penny’s eyes bulged as she watched King Zander slam his fist against something on the dragon. She could not identify what it was. But the effect was immediate. The dragon’s feet rolled in on themselves, exposing some kind of hole. A trail of blazing fire shot out that propelled the dragon forward. The magnet started to bend over, and soon the magnet could no longer hold the dragon with the amount of speed it had, and Cychreides broke free.

Pennly watched in horror as the dragon banked around to the other side of the arena, out of the magnet’s range. Penny gritted her teeth as she stared at Cychreides and King Zander, wondering what they were up to. What did the king plan to do this time?

Her answer came almost immediately when she saw Cychreides open its mouth. She couldn’t stop her blood from running cold when she saw who it was aimed for: her friends. Though some of the guards and citizens wanted to help, she knew there was little they could do.

Penny moved as quickly as she could. She could feel the glow of the beam as it was readied to be fired. She only had a short amount of time to do this. If she could just hurry it up, then maybe she would be able to finish it in time, before...

As soon as she was in front of her friends, she quickly began to draw. She hoped it would be enough.

Seconds later, as soon as she was done drawing the wall, there was a crash, and a sizzle as the energy collided with stone. She and her friends let out grunts and cries as the ground shook, the rock shield quivering and starting to crumble. She had her hands and arms over her head, shielding herself from the blow. When it was finally over, she looked around.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that her friends were fine. Or at least, not more hurt than they were before. They, minus Snap, were looking at her in shock and awe.

“Penny...” Rudy whispered softly.

Penny turned her head away and glared up at the king. She took position in front of her friends and held up what remained of her chalk. “If you want to get to them, you’ll have to go through me!”

King Zander appeared to consider her offer. “Very well. I was aiming to kill all of you at once anyway.” He sneered. “Thanks for making things easier for me!”

Penny widened her eyes as King Zander had the dragon begin to fire another shot. She tried to work as quickly as she could, but this time, she failed to put the shield up in time.

The next thing she became aware of was blinding pain. It felt like someone was trying to set her on fire. She screamed as she let go of the chalk. She was knocked into the ground, rolling across it. She soon came to a stop. She coughed and wheezed as she lifted her head up. She looked up. King Zander looked like a blur, and everything was getting dark. She turned her head to where her friends were. Snap was unconscious at this point, as were King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney. Only Rudy appeared to still be awake, trying to support himself on his unbroken arm.

Penny tried to stay awake, but she found it too difficult. The pain had zapped her of her strength and she fell into the ground. She let out a sorrowful tear, devastated that she wasn’t able to save her friends. She supposed that..this was it.

She shut her eyes as she lost consciousness.

sss

Pain...so much pain..

Rudy could feel his head throbbing. It was as if someone took a jackhammer to his head and was using it constantly. He could barely concentrate as he struggled back to his feet.

Everyone sounded so echoy and faraway for a few moments. He wobbled from side to side as he struggled to keep his balance. He was aware of feeling some burning sensation on his body. A light touch caused him to recoil, and his mind snapped back to attention.

He had been burned by the dragon. He was certain his friends were, too. Not severely; thankfully they had managed to jump down in time so that most of the beam missed them. But they were still struck by part of it, resulting in some burns. He couldn’t tell where they were at the moment; his mind was throbbing too much in pain. He groaned and clutched his head, trying to ride out the pain.

After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked at where King Zander and the dragon were. His vision had cleared up a little, and he could see them hovering there. It didn’t look like they were attacking yet, but he knew, even in the cloud of pain, that this could change at any second. He needed to get out of the way, before they had another chance to strike.

“Argh!” Rudy fell down to the ground as he clutched his broken arm. He looked down and saw that it had some burn marks. Great... He looked up again at where King Zander and the dragon were.

In his position, there was nothing he could do to stop them. The chalk had rolled too far and he was in too much pain to grab it. He couldn’t even get up at this point. He looked around at his friends. They were all unconscious; they had no chance of escaping now. And none of the zoners around could help. They were utterly trapped.

He glared at the king, wanting to remain defiant even in the end. He wanted King Zander to know that, despite his best efforts, he was still not going to get him to submit to him. He would not allow him that kind of victory. He would not cower away from the attack; he would face it head on. King Zander might have a chance at victory over them, but Rudy was certain that his little rule over this place was over, and the Chalklantians can deal with him as they saw fit.

He closed his eyes and waited. He didn’t want to die, but at least he would be with his friends. They would go out together. That was the only mercy that he knew King Zander would grant them.

Suddenly there was a loud screech. It startled Rudy, causing him to open his eyes lean his head back. He looked up towards the sky and watched as some kind of winged beast came in, with someone riding on it. Rudy could not recognize who it was from this distance, but the features of the creature looked awfully familiar.

The hippalectryon. The one that he and his friends had faced before. It was flying in the air, holding someone on its back. Theron? Was that Theron? Rudy couldn’t stifle his gasp of shock as Theron pointed his spear at where King Zander and Cychreides were.

“W-Wait...” Rudy said softly. He tried to speak louder, but for some reason, he found it impossible to raise his voice. “Stop...”

Of course, Theron did not hear him. Instead, he had the hippalectryon charge downward. He pointed his spear at the dragon. The king gave a shout and the dragon flapped towards Theron at full speed.

Rudy’s dizzy mind could hardly keep up with the air show that followed. He could see them zipping and dodging and circling each other, but he couldn’t make out the full details. He closed his eyes and grabbed onto his head, shaking it. He then reopened them and looked up just in time to see the hippalectryon take a dive down, narrowly missing getting bitten by the dragon.

Soon Theron and the hippalectryon hovered in front of King Zander. Theron glared hatefully at the king, his teeth gritted hatefuly. “I’ve always hated you, King Zander... You’ve always been such a coward... Well here’s your reward for that!”

With that, Theron immediately charged at Cychreides at full speed. He held out his spear in front of him. King Zander followed suit, making the dragon fly towards him, opening its mouth to prepare a strike.

Rudy’s eyes widened as he saw the spear strike against the dragon. It lodged inside of its chest, causing sparks to fly. The dragon looked down and clawed at the stick. It could do nothing to get it out, and soon electricity began to circulate through its body. King Zander’s screams accompanied the dragon’s and soon the two fell from the sky. They landed on the ground in a heap.

Rudy couldn’t help but let out a gasp at this. Despite hating the king, he couldn’t help but feel compelled to rush over towards him and try to get him out of there. He could hear the king groaning. He was still alive. If he could just pull him out to safey, then he could be secured in a cage and then...

There was a sudden explosion. He let out a scream as the force of the heat pushed him back. He looked over, his eyes remaining wide as he watched the horrific scene before him.

He felt a mixture of emotions rush through him. A part of him couldn’t help but feel guilty at the inability to save someone, even if it was someone as monstrous as King Zander. He prided himself in being ChalkZone’s savior and being there to help the zoners. Not being able to save King Zander from the explosion did make him feel a pang, even if the king was a monster.

But the other half felt relief. Perhaps now, it was over. Maybe now Chalklantis could start to really recover from what had happened. Maybe now it could start to heal.

Hearing the shouts behind him, he knew that wasn’t the case. There was still the matter of the loyalists. He turned his head and watched as the remaining guards continued to fight each other, the rest either having been killed, unconscious, or in too much pain to do anything.

Fighting against his own pain, Rudy raised up the magic chalk. It was time to finish up here.


	36. Going Home

Theron’s eyes were wide in shock. He stared down below, unable to believe just what he was seeing. He knew things were going to get intense. But he never thought it would have been quite like this.

The metal dragon, Cychreides, had just exploded. It had several holes ripped into its metal hull, and some pieces were laying on the ground. The whole beast was mostly in tact, save for those openings. Some fire was licking up along it, mostly around its wings and feet, some on the body too.

He replayed in his head just what had happened. He never expected it to go this fast. He had thought that he would have had to fight the king a lot longer before he could get a strike in. He had come prepared, and had all kinds of inner plans and tricks in mind in order to get in close enough. And while it wasn’t exactly easy and he still needed to be careful, it was still not exactly what he was expecting.

He had flown around the king, trying to keep away from him. The hippalectryon he rode on was able to stay out of the dragon’s range. This hadn’t been an easy task. Cychreides was able to move pretty quickly despite his size. And the blasts....they were quite hard to avoid. He couldn’t believe how frequently he had fired, and the intensity of each blast.

He had started to get a little dizzy from all the flying around. Diving, twisting, turning, dodging. It was not easy fighting in the air like this. He wasn’t used to it, especially in a confined space. He needed to be constantly on his toes to stay out of the dragon’s way and try to find an opening.

King Zander had attempted to get him to surrender and make things easier. Theron of course refused. Why would he surrender to a coward like him? He wasn’t kidding when he said he was waiting for this for a long time. He had no intention of backing down, and he made sure that the king knew this.

Some moves had been harder to dodge than others. The king was quite good for a coward. He attacked with great ferocity. Cychreides was quite a handful to deal with, and he had to admit, he did break out in a sweat.

But despite the trouble, he was still a lot easier than he thought he was going to be. Though confused, Theron had a feeling he knew exactly why it seemed so easy for him to defeat King Zander and his metal dragon.

He had more experience. King Zander was obviously not used to fights. He was used to commanding others to do the fighting for him. Rarely did he himself ever step up to the plate and do something on his own. Now there he had been, riding on the metal dragon and fighting directly that way. King Zander’s inexperience is what ultimately cost him. He was good at planning, but when it came to reflexes, he was a little on the handicapped side.

Living in that forsaken jungle must have played a key role. Theron was used to having to go up against beasts, and the dragon hardly acted any different from them, minus the beam shooting of course. All he had to do was treat Cychreides like he was another animal in the jungle, and he had become quite a lot easier, though still quite a challenge.

He felt a small pang of disappointment. He had hoped that the dragon would have lasted longer. He had hoped that King Zander would have put up a better fight. He had wanted to fight him longer, rub it further into his face on how he had lost. He wanted to do so much more to him. There was so much that the king needed to answer for.

And now he was dead. There was nothing that could be done now. He couldn’t help but shake his head. Such a waste. A dead body could not pay for anything. It would stop the carnage, yes, but it wasn’t good enough for some people, like himself. He had wanted to see the bastard’s eyes when he saw that his people had turned against him. He wanted to see that look of defeat as King Zander realized that this had been all his fault, that he could have stopped it if he wasn’t such a douche. Now it was too late for that.

Theron let out a soft sigh. Well there was nothing more that could be done about that. He was just going to just going to have to make do. The most important thing was that King Zander was stopped; whether or not he was brought into a trial shouldn’t really matter all that much. He had to worry about the welfare of everyone else. Not whether or not the king suffers for his mistake.

Besides, there was still someone who could take the brunt of that punishment anyway. He was certain that General Kairos was still alive. And if he was, then he would be the perfect scapegoat. He was the closest to the king from what he recalled, and he was as big of a monster, if not more. He could take the king’s punishment as well as his own.

He didn’t see Kairos anywhere in the arena, however. He couldn’t help but feel a level of confusion. Why wasn’t he here? Where did he go? He guessed that the fight in the arena may have caused him to flee. No matter. Without his precious king to hide behind, Kairos couldn’t hide forever.

But at the moment, there was something more urgent on his head.

He could see some unconscious bodies down below. He recognized most of them as the same people that had been in the jungle earlier. Penny, Snap, and Barney. There was also someone else. Ah, King Mumbo Jumbo, he believed. He winced at their wounds. They looked like they had gone through hell. And Snap’s leg was all bandaged up so thickly, and it looked like some of the bandages had been torn off. His leg was either badly sprained or broken. It was hard to tell. And the others had bad injuries of their own, such as Penny’s arm gashes and King Mumbo Jumbo’s badly swollen leg.

They weren’t the only ones he could see either. All around the colosseum, he was aware of several bodies on the ground. Blood stained the ground near them, matching the cuts on their bodies. Some of the bodies were breathing shakingly, and others were just still completely, dead. The remaining were awake and quivering in pain, and looked so completely helpless.

It appeared as though King Zander’s guards had started a riot. He was aware of the fighting when he had come in, but he did not bother paying much attention. His eyes were solely on King Zander.

And it would seem that the guards did not notice their fight, either. They were too focused on each other. Blade against blade. Claw gainst claw. Staff against staff. The remaining guards were still fighting one another. He dare not try to make a move; he was not able to tell which was which. How could he attack any of them when he wasn’t sure which one was a side that he’d want to choose?

Plus, he didn’t even know what they were fighting for. Were they fighting for King Zander or themselves? He had little reason to believe that any of them were possible allies, and he was better off treating them as enemies. But for now, he would keep his distance.

As the fighting continued on, he looked down and saw Rudy limping in one direction, holding the piece of magic chalk. He winced when he noticed some blood on his arm and realized that his broken limb had gotten burned, likely from Cychreides’s attack. He immediately dove down with the hippalectryon and landed on the ground. He had the beast walk forward swiftly and it didn’t take them long to reach Rudy.

Rudy took immediate notice of him. “Theron? How did you...?”

“It’s a long story.” Theron patted the side of the hippalectryon’s neck. “What is going on here? Why are the guards fighting?”

Rudy turned his head and looked up at the guards, his eyes narrowing. “King Zander slaughtered one of them, and it caused kind of an uproar.”

Theron didn’t need to know any more. He could already picture in his head what was going on. He just moved his head back and nodded his head slowly a few times. That...would certainly explain a lot. He could see the guards getting all in a huffy when one of their own was taken.

So this fight was between loyalists and deserters. Those still loyal to King Zander, and those who left his side. That didn’t make it any easier to tell which side was what, and he doubted that Rudy would be able to know. It wasn’t like the deserters did anything to distinguish themselves physically from the others.

Theron stared at Rudy for a few moments, then he slowly narrowed his eyes. “Just...what were you going to do?”

Rudy turned to glare at the fighting around him. “I was going to stop this fighting.” He looked down at the magic chalk. “I still have some left. I need to draw something to...”

“No.” Theron cut him off.

Rudy stared up at him in shock. “What are you talking about?” He moved his chalk-wielding hand over towards the dueling guards. “We can’t just leave them like this!”

Theron nodded his head. “Yes, we can.”

“But...”

“Let me explain, kid.” Theron raised his hand up to silence him. Rudy went silent, but still gave him a worried and shocked frown. “It doesn’t really matter which side wins. It would have should King Zander still be around. That would have caused some kind of shift. But...the king is dead now. Those that still follow King Zander now cannot take orders from him, and those who are against him can no longer rebel against him. Their fight is pretty meaningless at this point. It is best to just let this sort of thing handle itself.”

“But, if it’s meaningless...shouldn’t we try to...” Rudy bit his lip nervously. “I mean...we can’t just let them kill each other...”

“They won’t. At least, not anymore.” Theron spoke up. “True, there had been some unlucky ones, but if you notice, the fighting isn’t as intense as it was, and there hasn’t been any further deaths.”

Rudy looked around. The look in his eyes seemed to tell Theron that he understood where he was coming from. After a few moments, Rudy looked back up at him, waiting for a continuation of his answer.

“They will settle things on their own. The losing side will concede and they will negotiate on their own. The king’s guards have their own internal system from what I recall. It’s...complicated, but do not fret, Rudy. They will calm down and order will be restored.”

“And the citizens?”

“So long as they don’t try to interfere or leave and get in the middle of the fighting, they will be fine.”

Rudy looked towards the ground. There was a look of reluctance in his eyes. Understandable, considering this child had no experience with this place. He wasn’t even sure if there was anything like this in the Real World where he came from. He just hoped that the boy understood enough that he wouldn’t try to intervene.

Theron couldn’t feel completely content himself. A small portion of him was a little worried that this might go too far. But the slowing down that he could see happening gradually was a good sign to him. He felt it was best to just let the guards take care of their disgruntlement on their own and not try to get in the middle of it.

Theron took a moment to look over at the unconscious forms of the boy’s friends. They hadn’t shown any sign of improvement, and out here in the colosseum during the fighting was not the best place for them. They would need to find a way to get out of here and avoid the flying guards in the process. The citizens might be trapped for now, and there was little they could do about that. But that didn’t mean that Rudy couldn’t at least get his friends to safety.

“You need to get them out.” Theron told him. “Try drawing some form of transportation for them.”

“But...” Rudy again turned up to look at the citizens. “I can’t just leave them behind.”

“They are going to to be fine.” Theron began.

Rudy shot him a glare. “How do you know?! What if something terrible happens and I’m not there to be able to help them?! What if the guards go crazy and...”

“Relax, kid.” Theron returned the glare. “They will...”

“No! I won’t leave them!” Rudy shouted.

“And what of your friends?!” Theron hissed at him. “Would you feel better if they got more hurt?!”

Rudy’s eyes widened. “N-No...” He looked away. “But...I just..can’t leave these people behind... I’m the protector of ChalkZone. I should be able to do something to stop this..”

Theron wanted to slap himself in the face. Rudy was such a stubborn little boy. He couldn’t even understand when it is best to stay out of things. He seemed to think that he had the right to butt himself into situations that weren’t his problem, nor did he seem to understand that doing such things may actually make it worse.

He could feel himself growing frustrated with the boy. He was making the situation worse for his friends by hesitating to try to think of helping the citizens here. There was nothing he could really do to help things alone. The guards just needed to duke this out on their own. All Rudy would accomplish by trying to stop them was delaying help for his friends. And he knew, based on his interactions with him, that he loved his friends too much to let something happen to them.

He didn’t want to waste anymore time. He was tired of hearing the boy’s excuses. He walked over towards him and gripped his shoulders. He applied pressure, making Rudy wince. He then lowered his head and moved it towards his face. Rudy turned his head to the side, looking at him with a single eye.

“Listen here, Rudy Tabootie. If you try to stay here and try to take care of this yourself...all you will do is make things worse. You don’t even know which side is which. What are you going to do? Ask them politely? What if one of them lies to you? What if they trick you so they can get close and kill you? No, Rudy, you must stay out of this and let them take care of it. And do not worry about the citizens; they will be fine.”

Rudy took in a few breaths. He looked uncertain of what to do. He could practically see the boy shake with adrenaline as he looked left and right. “B-But..what if they aren’t...?”

Theron paused for a moment and gave an exasperated sigh. “You are really pushing my buttons here, Rudy. I am wasting time with you trying to explain this when we should be helping your friends...” He moved his head back, glaring at him. He really didn’t want to do this, but it was either this, or he wasted more time trying to convince Rudy to just leave this place behind. “Either you help me transport your friends to safety, or I will be forced to euthanize them.”

Rudy’s eyes bulged. “Y-You wouldn’t...”

Theron leaned forward, narrowing his eyes into slits. He did his best to hide his feelings of guilt as he said, “Try me...”

Rudy looked at him in horror.

sss

Rudy rested on the outside of the wall, his back leaning towards it. He stared down at the ground, looking at how his friends were bandaged up.

Well the zoners at least. Penny didn’t have much; what could he give her made of chalk that wouldn’t dissolve with the blood leaking out of her burns? She needed to get to the Real World for that. But sadly, that wasn’t going to happen just yet. He hoped that Penny could hold out.

They were all at least secured. He had drawn a contraption that was able to hold them securely and move around via remote control. It looked a little strange and it was difficult to describe. A walking frisby kind of? He didn’t really worry too much of the description; it at least works. He was going to need this to travel across the land so he could get to his submarine. It was the only way out of here.

Theron said that he was going to need to wait, though. Since the fighting was dying down, it shouldn’t be too long. But it was best to wait until it stopped completely and the guards and people helped to appoint a new leader. Otherwise those up in the watch towers were still going to shoot them regardless. With no king to tell them know, they would just shoot no matter what they said.

Rudy still felt some level of anger towards Theron. He couldn’t believe the low, dirty move he had pulled on him earlier. He had felt so frightened and scared for his friends. And for Theron to say such a thing...

But he couldn’t really blame him. He could tell the guy was getting annoyed, and yet he continued to argue with him anyway. Theron probably wasn’t going to actually hurt his friends; he was just trying to motivate him to get a move on. He doubted that Theron enjoyed what he said, either. He didn’t look like he was particularly liking it.

Rudy did feel guilty about slowing things down. He had been so worried about trying to help everyone, and the fighting around him... He felt a strong compulsion to try to stop it and bring some peace back. But by doing so, he was just wasting time. He should have trusted Theron more, who understood how things were run here better than he did. And he was right; how would he know who was who? How would he have kept himself from being tricked?

At least they were out here now, and he was able to treat his friends’ wounds the best he could. Theron helped, as well as the hippalectryon. Theron recommended they stay nearby; the guards would not bring the fight out here. They would be safe.

It was strange seeing the hippalectryon again. He didn’t recognize it at first, but when he saw how it approached him and the way it moved, he knew it was the same one from before. It had remembered him. Maybe that was why the hippalectryon was so eager to help. Maybe it had sensed that Theron was an ally as well, and wanted to help him out in helping them.

The hippalectryon was laying down next to him at the moment, its head resting up against him. Rudy looked down and smiled at it. He was glad that Theron was able to get it out of wherever King Zander had placed it. He had feeling that the creature was horribly mistreated afterwards as ‘punishment’ for being nice to him and his friends.

The thought of King Zander boiled his blood. The fact that he had used his citizens like this, that he had killed them in cold blood... He just found it hard to forget. No matter how much he tried to push the thoughts of the king away to focus on the now, it was hard to just let go of that anger. He didn’t think it would be possible to ever let it go anytime soon. King Zander had done a lot of damage to his kingom, and for what? What got him the most was that...he didn’t fully understand the king’s plans. He was never completely up front about what his goal was, and even when asked to elaborate, he refused.

That was partly why it stung him that the king was dead. He was never going to get the answers now. He was never going to understand what was running through that awful king’s mind.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Although it was hard, he needed to focus on what was going on right now. That was all he could do.

He looked over at where Theron was. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. Why was Theron looking at the ground like that? Was there something wrong? Had Theron spotted something important? Moving away from the disappointed hippalectryon, Rudy walked towards Theron slowly.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked.

Theron didn’t lift his head up or answer at first. He just continued to stare towards the ground. He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his eyes furrowed. After a few moments, he turned to look over at Rudy. “These tracks... They weren’t here before.”

“Tracks...?” Rudy looked at the ground. He scanned it carefully, but he didn’t see anything similar to what Theron was describing. He shrugged his shoulder. “What are you referring to? I see nothing.”

“Of course not. You haven’t done a lot of tracking.” Theron stated. That hadn’t meant to be an insult; just a statement of fact. Theron lowered his finger and pointed at the ground, motioning towards what looked like some really faint lines. “Something was dragged off here.” He lifted his head and looked towards one direction. “And they headed off in that direction.”

Rudy frowned at this. “Do you know who it might have been?”

Theron shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. The track is muddled up; I can’t make out enough detail. The only way to find out is to follow the tracks.”

“I see...” Rudy stared at what Theron claimed to be tracks. He wasn’t too sure if they were or not, but he didn’t want to call Theron a liar. After all, living in the jungle, he would indeed know more about this than he would. He turned his head to look at him. “What do you suggest we do?”

For a few moments, Theron was silent. He stared at the tracks long and hard, his eyes narrowed. He looked as if he was trying to debate whether or not he should go after them. This was clearly not going to be such an easy decision.

Rudy could understand why, too. The thing that made the tracks might be important in some way. Dangerous, perhaps an ally, perhaps someone who could be in danger. They could benefit from trying to find out who this was, and if there was anyone else dangerous, capturing them and stopping them from causing further damage.

But on the other, they did have urgent things to take care of right now. They needed to move his friends to safety, which they won’t be able to do until after they could get back to the submarine, and they can’t do that until the situation with the guards was stabilized. It was almost funny how it seemed that, after the king was defeated, things appeared to have gotten harder; not easier.

“I will go alone.” Theron finally said after a few moments. He turned to look at Rudy. “I’ll leave the beast there with you for protection.”

Rudy stared at Theron, his eyes widening a little. “What do I do when...”

“When the guards come out? Do not worry. You will know.” Theron raised his head up and stared over at the arena. “I sense the fighting is almost done. They will come out and you can talk to them.” He paused for a moment. “...hopefully...”

Rudy felt his heart skip a beat at this. “Hopefully?! What does that mean?!”

Theron didn’t bother to answer him. He had grabbed his spear and he rushed off in the direction the tracks went in. Rudy called out to him again, holding out his unbroken arm towards him. But no matter what he did or shouted, the zoner simply was not responding to him. He just continued to run until he was out of sight completely. Rudy bit his lip and lowered his hand.

Of course Theron had to go and leave him alone like this. He turned to the hippalectryon. Okay so not completely alone. But still... The way he said ‘hopefully’ did cause a string of cold fear to move through him. Before, the zoner had been confident that things would settle down with the guards. But now, with that single word, Rudy realized how badly things could backfire.

His heart began to race. Was Theron referring to those still loyal to King Zander’s ways? If they were the ones who won the fight, what would happen if they came out and saw him? Would they try to kill him and his friends?

Now Rudy really regretted not doing something earlier. Even though there may not have been anything he could do in the end, he wished he could have done something to help turn the tides against the loyalists so that they no longer had to worry about anything King Zander related. He wondered if Theron had been so confident that he just forgot about the possibility of the loyalists still winning. Now the fight didn’t seem as ‘meaningless’ as the zoner had told him.

Theron was probably lying to himself, and to him, in order to make it easier to leave the colosseum to help his friends. Rudy gritted his teeth at this. He wished that Theron had been more honest if that were the case.

He sucked in a deep breath and sighed. Well it was pointless to go against what Theron said now. He would have to continue doing what was asked of him. He moved towards the hippalectryon and kept his eyes towards the colosseum, waiting for any sign of the fighting ending. He could still hear the fighting on the other side. No sign of ending just yet.

He occasionally looked over at his friends to see if any of them were waking up. So far, they stayed still and quiet. He bit hsi lip. He hoped they would wake up soon. The longer they stayed like this, the more worried he got. What if... What if they don’t wake up...?

Rudy shook the thought out of his head. No, he couldn’t think like that. Everything was going to be fine. Soon they would be on their way leaving and they would be able to return home.

Then they would never have to set foot in this place ever again.

sss

Theron wasn’t sure how long he had been following this trail. He didn’t know where it was taking him or how far it was. All he knew was he just had to keep going. If he didn’t follow it and find out what was going on, then he could never be fully at peace.

He did feel guilty about leaving Rudy behind. He wished he could have done something more than just leave the hippalectryon with him to defend himself and his friends with. The boy was out of magic chalk, and if the guards did try to still hurt him, then Rudy was going to have a hard time.

And his friends... What would happen to them...?

Theron shook the thoughts out of his head. Rudy should be able to hold up just fine. He was able to before without magic chalk, right? He was chalkless when he had first run into him, if he remembered right. Rudy was resourceful enough. He should be able to make do without it. He needed to have more faith in the boy.

Plus, this trail could lead to something important. For all he knew, it might be General Kairos. If that were the case, then he needed to find him and capture him before he could do anything to cause more damage. If it was him, well it was a good thing that he brought his spear. He may be in for the fight of his life in that case. He had never fought against Kairos before, but he knew, generally from rumors, how nasty that guy could be.

If there was anyone he wanted to kill right now, it was Kairos. He was such a sociopathic monster, he doubted that any amount of imprisonment was going to make him change his ways. And keeping him locked up was only going to invite future danger. No, he needed to die so that he could never hurt anyone ever again. As soon as he found him, he would drive his spear right through his chest. Then it would all be over.

He continued to follow the trail, noting how it seemed to take random turns. There wasn’t a whole lot of blood either. None where he and Rudy were and only small amounts after. Maybe the person being dragged banged against something and started to bleed? A possibility. But he wouldn’t know until he found them. Then he would need to...assess what he should do with them. Help them, or kill them.

He kept on walking, unsure of exactly how long this was taking him. He didn’t have any way to tell the time, and of course, Chalklantis doesn’t have those...what did the surface dweller call them? Ah yes. Day Zone and Night Zone. None of that down here, nor did they have cycling days like in the Real World. It had never bothered him before, but now, as he moved through the land, following this trail, he really, really wished he could see just what time it was.

Nonetheless, he kept on moving. Sooner or later, he would figure out where he was and figure out where this mystery person went. Even if he had to keep on walking for possibly hours, he would find them. It was just a matter of time.

He was starting to get a little exhausted. He had been walking at a fast pace for a while now. He had wanted to try to catch up as quickly as he could without exerting himself too much. Well that turned out to be a failure. He needed to slow down before he exhausted himself further.

He rested himself against a tall, rocky wall, panting a few times. As soon as he managed to catch his breath and get his heart rate back to normal, he looked around the rocky wall to see where he was.

He couldn’t help but feel a level of shock when he realized he was getting close to the edge of the open field. He could see the beginnings of his jungle home in the distance. He took a few moments as his mind reeled form this. Had he really traveled that far? He found it quite difficult to believe. He knew he had walked quite a ways, and for some time, but still...

He looked down at the ground. Yep, the trail was still going. He looked out a head, taking in a deep breath and sighing. He had no idea how much further this was going to go, or how much longer he was going to be out here. But..he still needed to follow this trail. He needed to see where it goes and find out who was on the other end of it. If he didn’t... He didn’t want to think about what might happen if he didn’t.

So he continued on his way. He did his best to ignore the frustrations of how long this was taking, the worries of what might be going on with Rudy and the others. He had to focus on this task. Then he could go back and help Rudy if he needed it.

After what felt like a long time, he was able to reach the edge of the jungle. He could feel a sense of familiarity and comfortableness as he stepped on its grounds once more. For the first time in a while, he did feel safe and secure. He knew this place better than he knew the city. He would rather deal with the wild animals around here than deal with the zoners of the city. He was more of an animal person, really. Animals were just, by comparison, a lot easier to control.

He could see that there were a number of animals around, but none of them made a move towards him. They were too busy with something else. Their young, hunting easier prey, perhaps finding a mate, which ever. Only a few really paid attention to him, and all they did was stare at him.

That was the reward for living here. The animals grew to...well not respect, but they know to keep their distance. It was still dangerous, and he would not ever walk through here without his trusty spear. If any of these animals decided to attack him, whether it before territorial reasons or they wanted to eat him, then he was going to make them regret it. It only took one strike in a single location to bring most of them down, or wound them enough to make them flee.

The trail continued through here. How curious. Just how far did this zoner drag this own zoner? And why through here? He guessed that it may have been purposefully chosen; whoever this was obviously wanted to murder this guy. If they were left in here, they would not last for very long. There was a strong chance that he would not find a zoner; just a ripped up body.

Eventually, he started to hear soft groaning. He froze for a moment, turning his head from one side to the other. He didn’t recognize who it was, but whoever it was, it...didn’t sound like they were in pain. The groan was more like...effort? Yes, he could hear the scraping now. However it was, they were trying to get away from something. He continued to move towards the sound, moving slowly, trying to listen as best as he could.

Soon he started to hear a panicked voice.

“No! Please! Let me go! I-I can’t stand it! I don’t want to be trapped here! Please..somebody help me! I-I don’t want this... Please...”

Theron froze at this. Then his eyes narrowed into slits. He knew exactly who this person was. His lip curled up into a snarl. He readied his spear as he walked towards the sound slowly. He went around one of the thick trees, stepping over a small stream of water, and rounded the corner.

Just as he thought. It was General Kairos. The bird zoner was located a few feet in front of him. He rested on the ground with tall rocky pillars on either side of him, covering much of his body. Someone had deliberately pushed them in like that, and there appeared to be another slab of rock placed on his back to weigh him down. There was also some kind of heavy stone that his legs were attached to, which prevented further movement.

Whoever had done this was clearly trying to induce some kind of claustrophia with Kairos. And it was working. This horrid zoner, who had deemed being trapped as nothing that bad, was now freaking out because of it. He could see the utter terror in his eyes, the way his body wriggled, trying to escape. Allowing him to see out only added to his torment. Seeing freedom yet not being able to get to it.

Kairos was so panicked, he did not notice him at first as he approached. Theron walked around Kairos, eyeing him up and down. He took notice of how mangled his legs looked, and he could see, even in the shadows, his back appeared to be broken.

Theron couldn’t help but smile at this. It would seem that justice had finally caught up with this monster. What a fitting punishment for this general. To go from being so in control, to having all of that taken away. With a broken back, he could never harm anyone ever again.

He moved around towards the front and made his presence known by stomping on the ground. Kairos jolted a little in surprise and raised his head up. He widened his eyes when he saw Theron.

“Looks like karma decided to pay you a visit...” Theron said, his teeth gritted as he struggled to hold back his fury. “I had been hoping it would strike you at some point. I just never thought it would be like this.” He motioned his hand towards him. “Look how pathetic you are... Trapped and unable to go anywhere. I could do so much to you right now and you couldn’t do a damn thing to stop me..”

Kairos shivered at this. “P-Please...just kill me...” He whispered in a cracked voice. “Just finish me... I would rather die than face this. P-Please...”

Theron was at first tempted to ‘honor’ Kairos’s wish. But he stopped himself. He had wanted the death thing to be a punishment, but it won’t be if that’s what Kairos wanted. No, he had a much better idea. He shook his head and said, “No...I think you’d be fine remaining like that. I think this suits you quite well. A little bird in his cage.”

Kairos let out a wail at this and shook his head. “No! Please!” He shook harder as he stared at Theron pleadingly. His eyes were glassy with tears, which stained his cheeks. Low cries escaped his throat. “Please kill me! I-I can’t take it!”

Theron narrowed his eyes coldly. “Why should I show you any mercy? After all that you have done?” Theron’s voice was laced with disgust. He stared at the zoner in contempt as he listened to him sobbing on the ground. “You deserve this, you know. If you hadn’t been such an asshole, maybe you would have been given spared a harsh punishment.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Cried Kairos. “I know I shouldn’t have done those things! I-I understand now! Please...either kill me or help me!”

“Help you?!” Theron was appalled by the very idea of General Kairos asking him for help. He raised his spear up, poised to strike. “I have no reason to help someone like you!” He noticed the way the bird was shutting his eyes, as if in anticipation for the blow. Not wanting to let him off easy, he lowered his spear. “You don’t deserve my help. And you sure don’t deserve to die.”

Theron moved in closer. Kairos cringed away, his body trembling harder as he got near him. His cheeks shined with his tears, and Theron could see the flow was not going to stop any time soon. He reached out and roughly grabbed him by his lower beak. He lifted it up, listening to Kairos whimper and sniffle as they locked eyes with each other.

“You deserve to live like this, knowing exactly what you have done.” Theron whispered to him harshly. Kairos whimpered at this and shut his eyes tightly, letting the tears flow. “You deserve to spend every minute here, knowing that you had brought yourself into this position. You deserve to rot here...”

Kairos’s body wracked in sobs at this. “N-No... Please... I-I’m begging you...”

Theron was tempted to smash Kairos’s head in the ground, but he refrained from doing so. He remained quiet, listening to the bird zoner continue to sob like this. It was so gratifying seeing him like this after all the trouble he had caused.

But he knew that this wouldn’t last for long. Now he had a decision to make. He could just leave Kairos like this, but he would end up dying. Yes, a slow, painful death. But that is what Kairos wanted. To die so he didn’t have to endure being trapped like this. Theron didn’t want that. He wanted him to suffer for however long possible.

Yet he didn’t want to help him. He didn’t want to lend any sort of helping hand to this monster. He didn’t deserve it, and it was, again, something that Kairos wanted. He either wanted help or to die. In his position, Theron could not do anything else except what Kairos requested. He could just leave him, but that would doom him to die, which is, again, something Kairos wanted.

He needed to think of another option. And fortunately, such a thought did cross his mind. He smiled down twistedly at Kairos. He watched as the zoner looked at him in fear, cringing in anticipation of what he was going to do with him.

“I know exactly what I could do with you..” Theron said, chuckling. “A way to keep you alive...but trapped like a rat in a cage forever...”

Kairos’s eyes bulged in horror at this. He shook his head. “N-No..please...a-anything but that...!”

Theron ignored him. He turned his attention in one direction, the twisted smile remaining on his face. He looked down, giving Kairos a look of grim glee. “Now just stay right here. I won’t be gone for long...”

With that, he started to run, leaving behind the frightened and crying Kairos behind him, ignoring his pleas as he disappeared further into the jungle.

sss

Rudy turned his head when he heard the sound of the doors openings. He immediately tensed himself up, readying for a possible fight. He wished that he had brought out that sword with him. Even though he wouldn’t really want to use it against someone if he didn’t have to, it would make him feel safer.

He felt the hippalectryon stand behind him. He would hear its low growling and noticed that its ears had been flattened against its head. The beast was glaring over at the door. Its fur was hackled, a clear indication that it would attack any of the zoners that tried to hurt him.

Rudy hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He hoped that Theron’s words might have held some truth to them, and that these zoners wouldn’t actually hurt him. There was still a chance that everything was going to work out in the end.

But he still could not rule out the fact that King Zander’s followers might have won the battle, and they might be the ones to now take charge of the situation. Even with no king to follow, despite Theron’s attempted reassurances, Rudy had a feeling that things might not be as over as he thought. He may need to fight longer before he and his friends could go free at last.

He took a step back as a small group of zoners came out slowly. It was a handful of the guards. He noted that they were covered in blood, and many had bruises, cuts, and chipped armor. They took immediate notice of him and they began to walk towards him. Rudy took another step back, gritting his teeth nervously. This seemed to go unnoticed by the zoners as they kept approaching him.

Rudy could feel his body start to shake a little. He tried not to be afraid. He tried to keep glaring at the zoners, but he just couldn’t help it. Even with the hippalectryon at his side, he could see that these guards still all had their weapons. They could easily subdue them, and he was left without any defense. He was bitter at Theron leaving him at first until he remembered that he would likely not stand much of a chance against these zoners if he was forced to go up against them.

He didn’t try to run. He couldn’t move his legs. The fear inside of him was growing stronger, and it forced him to remain where he was, unmoving. It felt as though his feet were caught in quick drying cement and he was knee deep. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t move.

The hippalectryon growled lowly, baring its teeth. Rudy grabbed onto it with his one arm, looping it around its neck. He leaned against the hippalectryon, hoping to try to control it a little before it did anything hasty. He still wasn’t sure of these zoners’ intentions. He did not want to soil anything in case these zoners weren’t actually going to attack.

Soon the guards stopped and stared off in his direction. They all held soft glares on their faces, but none of them showed any obvious signs of aggression. They remained silent as they stared at him. Rudy stared back, breathing heavily as he waited for them to say something.

The silence was unbearable. Rudy could feel his heart pounding in his chest. When were they going to say something? How long were they going to keep him waiting? Rudy felt his body shake more, anticipation intermixing with the fear. What should he do? Run? Hide? Remain here? Fight?

One of the guards started to walk closer. Rudy held onto the hippalectryon as it began to growl. Rudy couldn’t help but bare his teeth nervously. He didn’t try to make a move or say anything as the guard got close.

Soon, the guard stopped in front of him. They stared at each other for several moments. Silence hung strongly in the air, making the situation feel increasingly tense. Rudy looked at the guard up and down, looking for any signs of a possible attack from him.

The guard finally spoke. “Rudy Tabootie...” The voice was stern and gruff, but not exactly aggressive. “We would like to...offer our most humble apologies.” The guard placed a hand against his chest and lowered his head. “We were wrong about you.”

Rudy watched as the other guards followered suit. They lowered their heads in his presence, a sign of respect that they had never given to him before. Rudy didn’t need to ask to know which side had the most voices now.

“We were wrong to follow King Zander. He claimed he wanted what was best for his people, but it is clear to us now that he was a corrupt bastard who may have had good intentions in the beginning, but he had lost his way.” The guard’s expression softened up, a hint of regret staining it. “We are sorry for what we helped King Zander put you and your friends through.”

Another guard nodded her head. “We would like to...make it up to you. If it is at all possible.”

“Yes. Tell us what you would like, and we will give it to you.” Another male guard said.

While Rudy did feel a level of relief that these zoners were finally starting to see reason, and he was glad that they felt bad about what they did, he still couldn’t feel entirely safe around them. He couldn’t fully let go of his anger towards them. They had all played a part in his and his friends’ suffering during their stay here. And it was because of them that their parents were worried sick about them right about now.

Rudy winced as he thought about his parents. It must be really late in the Real World now. His parents would now he was gone. They would know he ditched school. They were going to be so worried about him. At least he was finally going to be able to return home to them soon.

He couldn’t stay too angry at these zoners for long. After all, how could they have known what a bastard King Zander was? It was likely that only General Kairos had gotten the whole story, or the most of it at least, and he of course had kept it away from the guards. They had simply been wielded like puppets, and had only done what they truly thought was right. That was more than what he could say for King Zander.

Rudy stared down at where his friends where, biting his lip. He thought about the guards’ offer. He knew exactly what he wanted.

“Is there a hospital nearby?” Rudy asked as he stared back at the guards. “Please...my friends...”

The guards didn’t need any further statement. They nodded their heads in understanding as they walked over towards his fallen comrades. The hippalectryon growled, but Rudy managed to hold the creature back and calm it down.

The first guard who spoke to him remained where he was. He watched as his fellow guards grabbed onto the device Rudy had created and lifted it up, carrying his friends with them. He then turned back to Rudy, giving him a sympathetic look.

“We will do what we can for your zoner friends.” There was some hesitation in his voice. Rudy guessed this was because of the awkwardness. It is a little hard to go from being nasty to someone to being nice, even just civil. “We won’t be able to do much for Penny Sanchez, however.”

Rudy nodded. “I understand. Just...can you help her however you can?”

Rudy was aware that this meant staying here even longer. He felt horrible about it, knowing that he was worrying his parents because of this. But he needed to make sure that his friends were treated enough to make the trip back up to the surface.

The guard nodded his head. “We will try whatever is possible.” He suddenly frowned as he stared at Rudy’s arm. “You need some help, too.”

“What?” Rudy glanced down at his left arm. He placed his right hand over it gently. “No, I’m good. Really, I...”

“Don’t try to lie to me.” The guard glared softly at him. “I can tell you are in pain, too. Come along.” He raised his hand and gestured for him to follow. “Come with us. We will get all of you admitted.”

Rudy wanted to protest. He was less interested in his own injuries, and more concerned for the condition of his friends.

But in the end, he knew he should go with them to the hospital and be admitted as well. His friends would be worried if they saw that he wasn’t getting some form of treatment, even if it was limited due to being in ChalkZone. He didn’t want them to worry, and he knew that it was best that he got some form of help as soon as possible.

He wordlessly nodded his head. He climbed on top of the hippalectryon. Trying to hold on with just one arm wasn’t easy, but he managed. He began to follow the guards as they began to lead them down the same path that King Zander had took them on near the beginning of this whole mess.

sss

Snap let out a groan as he opened up his eyes slowly. His mind was muggy, a pounding headache rippling through it. He grabbed onto his head as he tried to push himself up.

But for some reason, he couldn't move much. He felt some kind of pressure against his body. He didn't react in fear at first; he was just confused. He couldn't remember what had happened at first. All he could see was darkness around him, blurriness, and the only feeling he was aware of was stiffness, maybe a little ache.

He attempted to sit up again. No luck. He was just too weak. He let out another groan as he laid there, his mind pounding with the ache that spread through it. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

It took him seconds to become aware of some other stimulation. A bright light. Some faint voices. Footsteps. A low beeping sound. At first, they were all faint and distant. Soon, they spread, becoming more pronounced and accentuated. He was not able to ignore them anymore, and he opened up his eyes.

He immediately recoiled when he suddenly became aware of another sensation.

Pain.

Snap turned his head towards the source. His vision had brightened and sharpened at this point. He became aware of another sharp jab as his eyes settled on his arm. Was this where the pain was coming from? No... It was down lower. His leg... It had to be one of his legs. He needed to take a look. He needed to see what had happened to him.

He lifted up his head to try to find the source of the pain. As soon as he did, he noticed that there were straps holding him down. This had been the reason why he couldn't move earlier. He had been restrained.

His eyes bulged, his heart starting to tighten and race. He could hear the beeping sound increase. He hardly paid attention to it as his mind started to race dramatically. He turned his head from side to side, noting the bands that were restraining his arms down. He took in a few shuddering breaths as he tried to make sense of what happened. There had to be a reason he was here. But...where was here...?

And how did he get here? He couldn't ever remember coming to a place like this. Just..how was this possible? The last thing he remembered was..

King Zander.. He had a hold of him. He had grabbed him, and he had... The leg. That was how he had his leg broken... It was King Zander. That monster had done this to him. The king must have had him locked up afterwards. He had him fully restrained, unable to do anything to escape. No matter how hard Snap tried to pull and tug, he was not going anywhere. He was trapped here for however long King Zander wanted him. And then who knows what he would do afterwards.

Snap felt a jab of fear as he wondered where his friends where. He didn't see any of them here. They were nowhere in sight. What had happened to them? Were they also captured by King Zander? Were they taken somewhere else? What did the king plan on doing with them?

Snap tried to struggle again. He had to get out of here. He jerked himself from one side to the other. He fought against the binds. He didn't care how strong they were; if he kept on pulling, maybe he'd be able to break himself free. These restraints had to have some kind of weakness, right? There had to be a way to take advantage of that and get free. If he just kept launching himself from side to side, then maybe...

He was suddenly aware of a door opening up. He turned his head, and he could see a couple of figures rushing in. He noticed how they were both dressed in white. The designs looked familiar, like something he would see in his own home. But at the same time, there was something different about them. He couldn't quite put his hand on it.

"Looks like the patient is awake." One of the figures said.

"And he's going to try to break himself free." The second figure turned to the first one. "Tighten them! We can't let him get out!"

Snap took in a few quick breaths at this. These zoners, they must be working for King Zander. They were trying to keep him trapped. No, he wasn't going to allow that. He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth as the first zoner approached him.

Waiting until she got close enough, he suddenly lurched forward, ramming his head against the zoner. She let out a grunt as she staggered back. Snap ignored the throbbing ache in his head as he snarled at the zoner.

"Do not touch me..." He growled at her.

The zoner rubbed her head as she took a small step back. She glared at him in annoyance. "Stubborn little fellow, ain't he?"

"Well he did just wake up. He is just confused." The other zoner said. "Just restrain his head and give him a shot. We don't want him trying to climb out of bed again."

No...he couldn't let that happen. He would never allow those two creepazoids get close enough to inject him with gawd knows what. He bared his teeth and let out a series of growls as the zoner approached him again, this time accompanied by the other.

He attempted to head butt again. They dodged the attack easily, leaning away to avoid getting hit. One tried to reach out towards him. He lurched his head forward again and tried to bite, snapping his jaws at them. The two zoners stared down at him, their eyes narrowed. He returned the glare, his mouth open and his lips curled back to show his teeth. Not something he'd normally do, but without use of his arms, he was desperate.

One of the zoners disappeared behind him. He hissed as he leaned his head back, trying to look at them. He could barely see them. He growled and tried to snap. He could feel hands slipping underneath his jaw. He tried to bite, but pressure was quickly applied.

With his mouth held shut, he was no longer able to bite, or even articulate words. His heart speeding up, he tried to struggle. The zoner managed to keep his head still as well as his jaws closed. No matter how hard he struggled, he was not able to break himself free. He let out a series of whimpers, his anger replaced with raw terror.

He opened ups his eye and watched as the other zoner came over towards him. His eyes bulged as they leaned towards him. He made a few more weak attempts to struggle, but he was not able to get himself free. All he could do was whimper softly as the zoner began to put the head restraint in place. He could feel the cool leather against his head, and then a click, and he knew it was hooked up.

As soon as he was released, he started to struggle frantically. With more vigor than before, he tried to get himself out of this situation. He pulled with all of his might. But soon, he banged his leg, where the pain was coming from, and he let out a scream of agony. He shrank down, shivering from pain. A few tears strolled down his cheeks as he stared up at the zoners, silently asking them why they would do this.

The zoner he had head butted earlier was coming towards him with a needle. She flicked the tip a few times, and he could see that it was recently filled with something. His heart rate increased as he watched her get closer with the needle.

Snap tried to shake his head in desperation. "N-No...please don't... I..."

Snap suddenly couldn't speak anymore when he felt a cloth against his mouth. He looked up and he could see it was the other zoner. He was not paying attention to him; he was looking over at the female zoner who was still approaching. Snap kept on trying to protest, but his attempts were muffled.

"I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." He said softly.

Snap let out a series of muffled whimpers as he tried again to struggle, despite the pain he was causing himself. He only stopped when he felt a sharp, shooting pain in his leg, and he screamed into his gag. His body gave a few thrashes and he let out more tears of pain, crying softly.

His eyes bulged as he felt the pinch of the sharp needle against his neck. He turned his eyes over and he could see the female zoner push her thumb against the needle, pushing the fluid into his body. Only after the whole thing was pushed in was he released. The zoners took a few steps back and watched him.

Snap's eyes bulged in fear, his breathing increasing. No...this couldn't be happening. He couldn't allow this to happen. He couldn't let himself fall prey to its effects. He struggled to fight against them. He clenched his teeth tightly, fighting with his mind not to lose control.

But a few minutes later, as the drug started to kick in, he found it increasingly difficult to fight back. The drug's effects were just too powerful. They stretched over his brain, coating it in its influence.

"N-No.." Snap's muffled voice came as he tried to shake his head. "I-I won't...No..."

No matter how hard he tried to fight, no matter how much he tried to regain control, it was just no use. The drug was winning him over swiftly, and he could feel exhaustion spread through him quickly. It grabbed onto his mind and pulled him down, and he couldn't do anything to get himself out.

As the drug began to go into full effect, Snap could feel his eyes start to close. He struggled to keep them open, but his eyes were just too heavy. His vision began to go, becoming blurry once more. No amount of blinking would clear it up.

Just before he fell into darkness completely, he looked up at the two zoners before him. He let out a few small whimpers, tears staining his cheeks. He could feel one of them take the gag off of his mouth as he was about to fall unconscious. Snap said one thing before he lost touch with the world around him.

"Wh-Why...?"

He suddenly shut his eyes and his body went limp. A few tears trickled out of his eyes and dribbled down his face.

sss

"What did you mean they had to knock him out?" Rudy's eyes were wide in shock. "Couldn't they just...talk to him?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Snap was delusional. Likely a side effect of the..."

Rudy cut him off. "But he is okay, right?"

The doctor gave him a slightly annoyed look. He took in a deep breath and sighed. He nodded his head. "Yes...he's okay. For now at least." He held his hand up in gesture. "If they didn't knock him out, he would have kept on struggling and hurt himself more."

Rudy could feel his heart clench at what it must have been like for Snap. To wake up in a strange place. Not knowing where he was, or how he got there, or where anyone was. He must have been so scared and frightened... And he hadn't been in there to help him. Maybe if he were in Snap's presence and he reassured him, maybe Snap could have calmed down more easily.

He was a bit unnerved at the idea of him being knocked out via drugging. But he did understand there may not have been much of a choice. If Snap really was convinced he was in the hands of the enemy, no amount of reassurances would have helped. He'd just keep struggling harder, and end up hurting himself.

He was glad that the nurses were able to help him without causing too much distress. Now Snap could relax and be calm while the doctors did what they could to help him a little. Enough that he could make it up to the surface without being in too much pain.

He wondered how the others were going to react. Snap had been the first one to wake up and now he was asleep again. Penny, King Mumbo Jumbo, and Barney, all in their own rooms, were still out cold. Rudy bit his lip. He hoped that they would remain calm when they woke up. Especially Penny. If she panicked the way Snap did, then they couldn't do anything given that she's from the Real World like him.

He had already been looked at. There was little the doctors could do for him, which didn't surprise him. The most they could do was give him a stronger cast for his arm. It would not last long, but it would be enough for now.

He stood beside Penny's bed. He had insisted on seeing her as soon as the temporary cast was in place. He stared down at her, watching her as she slept. He bit his lip, wondering when she was going to wake up. He looked at her up and down, wincing as he took note of her injuries. Very few had been covered up due to the blood.

"Will she..?"

"I don't know." The doctor said solemnly. "We couldn't do much with her." He looked down at him. "Or you for that matter. It's...hard for us to work with non-zoners."

"I understand..." Rudy nodded his head slowly. "Well..thanks for the help anyway."

The doctor stared at him for a few moments. He then looked down at his chart. "I am going to see how Barney is doing." He looked at him with one eye. "I will inform you when you can visit your other friends."

"Thank you." Rudy said softly. He said no more as he listened to the doctor walk away, leaving him alone with Penny.

Rudy continued to stare down at Penny, watching as she took in weak breath after weak breath. He couldn't help but feel tears form in his eyes. He felt guilty about what had happened to her. Why wasn't he more vigilant? Why didn't he try harder to protect her and the others? He should have been able to do...something to prevent this from happening.

He tried his best to fight back the tears. He was not able to stop a few of those tears from streaming down his face. It was difficult to fight back the guilty feeling that was twisting his gut into knots. No matter how much he tried to tell himself this wasn't his fault, the guilt just kept eating away at him. He still felt like he could have done more to help her, and the others.

But...there was nothing he could do about that now. All he could do was just be here for her, as well as his other friends. He could help them, and they could help each other, get through this.

At least the worst part was over now. They no longer had a crazy general or an evil king hanging over their shoulders. They no longer needed to fear getting chased or tormented or forced to fight. They could finally relax here, and actually begin to enjoy it instead of constantly worrying about some insane zoner rearing their ugly head at them.

Suddenly he could hear a soft groan. He turned his head down. He could see that Penny's eyelids were...moving. His own eyes widened and he could feel his chest fill with elation. Penny was finally waking up... He did his best to remain still, controlling his excitement as Penny's eyes began to flutter open.

Rudy smiled down at her. "Hello, Penny." The excitement was quickly replaced with concern. He furrowed his eyes and he whispered softly. "How...How are you feeling...?"

Penny looked confused. She looked up at him, her eyes unfocused. She pushed herself up, but soon fell back down, a rush of dizziness clearly striking her. She placed a hand against her head and rubbed it. She took a moment to look left and right, her blinking eyes barely registering where she was.

"Rudy?" She gave a small cough. "Wh-Where am I...?"

"You're in a ChalkZone hospital." Rudy said softly. He reached out and gently grabbed her by the arm. "It is okay. You're safe. We're all safe now."

"B-But..." Penny's eyes widened as flashbacks were starting to come forth. "K-King Zander..."

Rudy said, "He is dead." Penny blinked at him a few times. He couldn't tell if she was just confused in general, or if she couldn't understand how King Zander could be gone. Of course she'd be confused. She did not witness what had happened. "He was caught in an explosion."

Penny stared at him for a few moments. Her eyes blinked, her expression changing to indicate that the information was sinking into her head. She shut her eyes and lowered her head, rubbing it gently. She turned back to him, confusion plastered over her face. "How...did that happen..?"

Rudy paused for a moment. He wasn't sure if now was a good time to tell Penny. She was clearly still confused and muggy. She had just woken up now, and, judging from her flinches, she had started to register some pain. Her mind was to crowded to think clearly. She might not even remember anything that he was going to say now.

Yet...he couldn't just leave her in the dark. It wouldn't feel right. Even if she didn't fully remember anything he was about to say, he felt the need to tell her anyway. He could always explain again later if it came to that.

He grabbed onto Penny's hand as she began to writhe a bit in pain. The doctors couldn't give her any pain meds. She was going to suffer the worst out of all his friends. He held her hand in his, gently rubbing it as he tried to soothe her.

"It's going to be okay, Penny." Rudy whispered. "You will be fine. It's all right..."

Although he normally didn't like doing this with anyone except for family members, he made an exception with Penny. She was starting to feel so much pain, he just..needed to something to help her feel better. So he lowered himself down and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Penny did not protest, and she appeared to relax a little.

As Rudy began to stroke her hair gently, he said, "Here's what happened..."

He began to relay to her what had happened at the colosseum.

sss

“And that’s what happened.” Rudy concluded the story.

In front of him, he could see Snap staring at him in shock. The zoner was clearly trying to digest the story he had been told. The look in his eyes suggested he was trying to figure out whether or not he should believe him. Rudy remained quiet, allowing Snap to think.

This had been the second time he told someone the story of what happened. Penny had been just as stunned as Snap was now. After all they had been through, it was hard to believe that King Zander could be dead that easily. It was hard to believe that it was finally all over. He wouldn’t blame them if they remained on edge; he kind of was too. It just seemed...too easy.

But life could be surprising like that. Life may be cruel at times, but there are moments when it just hands stuff on a silver platter. They had to learn to appreciate those moments instead of questioning them just because they felt ‘off’ or odd in some way. Questioning them only seemed to sap away their importance.

Snap had been the first of the zoners to wake up. King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney would wake up soon, he was certain. As soon as they would, he would go speak to them on what had happened. They deserved to know the story as well.

He was glad to see that Snap was feeling a bit better from before. This time, when he had woken up, they were able to calm him down without him freaking out and without resorting to injecting him again. After he finished speaking to Penny, one of the doctors had come and informed him that he would be able to speak to Snap now.

He had greeted Snap and asked him how he was feeling. The poor guy was still in some pain. It would seem the painkillers they gave him were wearing off and he needed more. Though he had been given some strong painkillers a little while ago, it would take some time for him to feel it’s effects and feel better. But at least for now, he was stabilized and relaxed. That was something.

He could see that he had been given a cast on his leg as well. Temporary just like his, intended for short time use so he could get to a hospital on the surface. Rudy had made it clear that he had no intention on allowing his zoner friends to stay here for much longer. They wanted to go back to the surface. They were only staying here for a short time, enough to provide some treatment before being taken to a surface hospital. And, in the case of him and Penny, a hospital in the Real World.

“So...that creepazoid finally got what was coming to him...” Snap’s voice was bitter. “Served him right...”

Rudy couldn’t really argue with that. King Zander really did have it coming to him, with the way he had acted and treated them and his own people. He was a complete and utter monster. He would certainly not be missed.

Snap’s expressions suddenly softened up. “I wonder who is going to run this joint in his place.”

Rudy hadn’t really thought of that. He had been so busy with other things that he hadn’t stopped to really consider what the zoners here would do about the king situation.

He was certain they had an idea, though. They must have some kind of protocol for this sort of situation. They might already have a king lined up and waiting to take the throne. And this time, he knew that they would be more careful about whom they put on that throne. Surely, they would pick someone much more noble and trustworthy this time.

“I wonder where that other creepazoid is...”

Rudy looked down at Snap. “You mean Kairos?”

“Yeah...” Snap nodded his head once. “Him...”

Rudy shrugged his shoulder. “I honestly don’t know. I hadn’t seen him since the incident in the colosseum.” He paused for a moment. “But with a broken back, he would not get far. I’m sure someone has found him.”

Snap said, “Good. I hope they can think of an appropriate punishment for him. Nothing I can think of seems to be good enough.”

“Having his back broken and being helpless was good enough punishment for me. But I can see what you mean.” Rudy said. “I’m sure whoever finds him will think of something rather fitting for him.”

“I hope so.” Snap growled softly.

Rudy lifted his head up and turned his eyes up towards the ceiling as he entered a thoughtful state. He, too, wondered where General Kairos might be. What could have happened to him after he was knocked out of the arena? There was the chance he was dead, but if he was alive...

He was not worried about Kairos getting too far. With that busted back and paralyzed legs, he wouldn’t really get all that far. He could try to flee all he wanted to, but he would not be able to put in a lot of distance. Once someone found him, they could easily catch up to him and capture him before he could get away. Then he would have no choice but to face justice.

He really wasn’t sure what more could be done to him, however. He was never going to be able to walk again. He would remain helpless. Even a wheelchair would do him no good as his wings could not grip the wheels properly for movement. He was completely immobilized. What more could be taken from him after that point?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a creak behind him. He turned his head and saw that the door had been opened up. A female doctor zoner peered her head in through the door and stared right over at him.

“Excuse me, Mr. Tabootie?” She asked.

“Rudy.” He corrected her.

“Yes...” She nodded her head once. “I just wanted to inform you that your other two friends are awake now, and you can visit them in a few minutes if you wanted to.”

What an odd choice of words. Of course he would go speak to King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney. He decided not to bring that up. He waved his hand at her and thanked her. She quickly scurried off, likely to give him some more private time with Snap, or to hurry to a patient that was in need of help.

Rudy would visit them in a few minutes. Right now, he wanted to spend a little more time with Snap. A part of him felt compelled to do this after learning of his panic attack earlier. He couldn’t help but fear that, if he left too soon, he would go ballistic and try to escape again. He wanted to make sure that he really was okay.

His eyes turned towards his broken leg. He could feel a sharp pang of guilt as he remembered how the injury came about. King Zander snapping it like a toothpick, Snap’s screaming....

“What’s wrong, Bucko?” Snap whispered softly. “Is something wrong?”

Rudy stared at his friend, then slowly he shook his head. “No... I just...” Rudy gritted his teeth, trying to think of how to put it in words. “I still feel really bad about letting King Zander break your leg.”

“Letting him?” Snap looked shocked by this. “What do you mean?” He held his hand up. “You didn’t let him do anything.”

“I know, but... It still feels like I...let you down.” Rudy lowered his head. “I’m the Great Creator. I should have been able to stop it.”

“Rudy. Look at me.”

Slowly, Rudy lifted his head and stared into his friend’s eyes. Snap was glaring at him. Not harshly, but an expression that was filled with concern and worry.

“You are the Great Creator, yes. But...you’re also a child. You cannot possibly be able to do everything all the time. Remember that.” Snap motioned to himself. “At least I’m still alive.” He then motioned out towards him. “We are all still alive. And soon, we are all going back home.” He smiled softly. “If that’s not worth celebrating, then I don’t know what is.”

Rudy smiled at this. Snap always seemed to know what to say to help cheer him up. He was right. It wasn’t his fault that this happened, and at least they had made it out alive. They had beat the odds, escaped a ruthless tyrant, exposed him for what he was, and turned the tides for Chalklantis. Everything else seemed easier by this point.

There was still the matter of his parents, however. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about them. How was he going to explain where he was? Or Penny? How would she deal with her mother? Could they come up with any sort of convincing lie?

The fact that they were going to stay in the hospital for at least another two hours wasn’t going to help. They were already likely worried sick. A few more hours would be like torture for them.

But it was something that needed to be done. He and his friends needed some treatment as soon as possible, some more than others. Even if they might have made it to the surface just fine without any medical help, he would feel better knowing they got more professional help before heading back up and going hours through the water to get back to the continent. The sooner they got some level of treatment, the better.

Despite his worry, he did feel some level of confidence that he and Penny could work something out. It was going to be hard yes, but so was trying to escape this place. So was trying to keep a step ahead of King Zander and getting away from his hell hole of a trap. If they could manage that, then trying to convince their parents of whatever story they decided to weave could surely work.

“Hey, Bucko...?” Snap called out to him. Rudy looked down at him. “Why don’t you go talk to the others? Barney and King Mumbo Jumbo?”

Rudy nodded his head. “Yeah, good idea. I don’t want them to be in the dark for too long about what happened.” Snap bit his lip for a few moments, then he looked at Snap and smiled. “Get well soon.”

Snap winked at him. “Would you ever doubt me?”

Rudy gave a small chuckle at this. Then he got up from his seat to go see King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney.

sss

It was hard to believe that the moment had finally come. After all these long, grueling hours being trapped here, they were finally getting ready to go home. Penny thought it was too good to be true. She wanted to pinch herself. This couldn’t possibly be real, right?

But as they headed toward the submarine, which floated in the water, waiting for its occupants, he knew that it really was true. It was actually happening.

She and her friends were finally going to go home.

Well some of them. King Mumbo Jumbo and Barney decided to stay behind. She and her friends were confused by this decision. They couldn’t understand why they would want to live in the same place that had imprisoned them for longer than they had been here. Then again, most of that was caused by King Zander, and with him gone, Chalklantis had become a much better place.

King Mumbo Jumbo explained that his citizens in the jungle had gone for so long without a king, that they no longer really needed him. He had never really gotten the hang of ruling again. He had been so out of practice. He felt more comfortable as a citizen. That was why he removed the ‘king’ in his name, although he didn’t mind if friends like them still referred to him as King Mumbo Jumbo.

Barney wanted to stay because this place was one of the most isolated locations in all of ChalkZone. Sure there were zoners here, but there were sections that they wouldn’t dare go in. He could get some more privacy, and he would be out of range of anyone who may want to try to misuse his information. That, and he didn’t want to leave his best friend behind. He had no intention on abandoning him like he felt he had during the first balloonemia outbreak.

Speaking of outbreaks, she and her friends did want to help with the whole head deflator disease, but they had to get back before their folks worried too much. They had been gone for way too long. If they wanted to help, they would need to come back later, after they set things straight and after they did some research on the surface regarding the disease. Then they could come back and provide as much help as they could.

Soon, she and her friends stood at the edge of the water. She could feel her feet getting a little wet as the water splashed on them. She stared at the water for a few moments, taking her time to remind herself that, yes, this was real. They really were standing on the very ground they first came on hours ago, that they really were about to leave Chalklantis and return home.

She and her friends looked at each other, each letting all of this sink in their minds. It was hard to believe what had happened today. So much went on, it was unbelievable. They had come here for a visit, it was a trap, they struggled to survive, and they triumped over it all. They couldn’t feel prouder of themselves.

And now Chalklantis could finally be a place it was meant to be. A place of true wonder and joy, where anyone who ended up visiting could feel welcomed, and the Chalklantians could feel safe. It would take some time to get there, but with the new king, Penny and the others were certain it would get to that point.

Now they were finally able to go back to the surface. Snap would be able to go the hospital to get further help, and she and Rudy could go into the Real World for the same thing, and of course reunite with their families.

Right now, they were all bandaged up to some degree. Rudy had a makeshift cast and she had some bandaging, although parts of it were dissolved by her own blood. Snap was the most bandaged up of the three of them. Given his status as a zoner, they could do more for him. His side was all patched up and his leg covered in a cast similar to Rudy’s. He balanced himself using a crutch. His burns were also treated as well.

The thought of that made her flinch, reminding her that she and Rudy didn’t have much done with their burns yet. They weren’t too bad or too numerous, considering what had happened. But they still needed them treated as soon as possible.

At least they were near the submarine now. At least now they could finally be on their way and...

“Hey! Wait!”

The trio froze before they continued. They looked behind them. This served as a reminder that they didn’t come alone. They had been escorted by some of the guards. Some of them were the same ones that helped imprison them before.

The guard that had spoke was Cyd, the same guard that had brought them their meals. A supporter of King Zander. Or at least, he used to be until he had seen him attack one of his own guards. Cyd refused to follow a kind that didn’t appear to care for even those who were loyal to him.

Cyd stood before them, looking at them with mixed emotions. There was still some level of distrust in them, intermixed with awkwardness. It must be difficult for him to be civil with topsiders like this. The fact that he was trying at all was quite impressive. It must be taking all of his willpower to not treat them with contempt like before.

“I know it’s been said already, but I...we are really sorry for how we treated you. It had been wrong of us to do that. We should have never listened to that...monster.”

Snap gave him a smile. “Hey, do not fret. Everyone makes mistakes.”

Cyd contorted his face at this. “Yes, but not everyone’s mistakes nearly result in the deaths of innocents.”

“True, but you still admitted you were wrong and you are striving to change. That’s something, right?” Rudy said.

Cyd paused for a moment. Then he said, “Yeah...I suppose so.” He shut his eyes softly. “I..uh.. still wanted to give you something... To remember us by, and as an apology.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It appeared to be some kind of solid, golden statue of a serpentine dragon. It wasn’t very large in size. He handed it over towards Rudy.

“Here. Keep this.” Cyd said. He worked up a smile, which clearly didn’t look very easy for him to make. “It is of great value here. Keep it. A token of our apology and gratitude.”

Rudy took the small statue from the boar zoner. He stared at it, his eyes wide in amazement. Penny and Snap also stared at the statue as well. It looked absolutely beautiful. All kind of engravings and details on it. This must have taken a long time to make.

“Thanks, but we...” Penny started to say.

“No, I insist. Keep it.” Cyd held his hand out in gesture. “It is yours now.”

“We...thanks..” Rudy whispered softly, his eyes not able to be torn away from the statue.

“What are you guys going to do about a king?” Snap asked. Rudy and Penny looked at him, and then stared at Cyd. They were all quite curious about this. “You can’t go on for much longer without a king to lead things, can’t you?”

Cyd shook his head. “No. This place was meant to be a monarch. A place ruled by a king or queen. We haven’t yet decided who will take...his place. But rest assured, we will find somebody.” He gave a small smile to them. “And he will not be like...him.”

A guard behind him spoke up in agreement. “You got that right!”

Another raised up her finger. “No way would we choose a king so foolishly again!”

Penny and her friends were glad to hear this. They wouldn’t want Chalklantis to fall under the horrible rule of another king like that. They wouldn’t want the citizens to be terrorized by someone who was supposed to be taking care of them. They were confident that they would pick someone more worthy of the throne, someone who could be trusted to do what a king or queen was supposed to do.

A third guard was approaching them slowly. “Do you...need any help?” The guard looked at Snap’s broken leg and his crutch and he gritted his beak. “It seems like you could use our assistance.”

Rudy nodded his head. “Yeah...that would be greatly appreciated.”

“I hope it’s not too big a deal or you....” Penny started to say.

“Oh no, not a trouble at all!” The third guard waved his hand dismissively. “We would be glad to do it! Right, guys?”

The other guards nodded their heads, saying things like ‘sure’ and ‘correct’ and ‘yes’.

“Thank you.” Rudy said.

With that, the guards approached them slowly. They began to assist them back in the submarine.

sss

No, it couldn’t end like this. This wasn’t fair. He had to get out of here, before that madman of a zoner came back. He didn’t even need to go that far. He just needed to crawl away a bit further, perhaps find a thick patch of foliage to hide in. Then he could wait to heal and...

Who was he kidding? He was never going to regain use of his legs. That was an impossibility. His legs were horridly broken and his back snapped in two. Even if the wounds heal, he would never be able to walk again. He would just be dooming himself to a slower death. Could he really doom himself to that, all just to avoid that zoner from before?

Perhaps not. But Kairos was desperate. All instinct was telling him was flee. Get up and run. But he could not run. Not anymore. He could only crawl. And that’s what his body was driving him to do. Just crawl away as quickly as he could.

The fact that he could not feel physical pain was hardly a comfort anymore. Before, he prided himself in that detail. Before, he would use it to taunt his victims just before making their own world explode in pain and misery.

But now...he would rather feel pain. He could not tell how much worse it was getting back there. He could not tell if he was doing anything to make the injury even more bad than before. Without pain, he was unable to detect the extend of the damage. And without pain, his broken back and limp legs suddenly became a whole lot scarier.

Was this what his victims felt? Is this how they viewed pain? Is this what they had gone through when he tortured them? Is this what physical pain was all about?

He pushed the thoughts aside. It didn’t matter now anymore, anyway. All that did matter was that he was injured and was about to recieve the most terrifying punishment of his lifetime. He knew that Theron was going to strike at his heart and mind. The way he had looked at him.... There was no doubt in his mind that, whatever Theron did, it was going to be horrifying.

Kairos could feel his heart race in his chest. He had a strong hunch of what it was going to be. The thought of it send cold chills through his body, making him shiver.

He... He didn’t want to be trapped. He didn’t want to be locked up. He didn’t want this. He had never thought too much of being trapped before, but now he saw just how terrifying it was. To be stuck in a single spot, unable to move, unable to get away... He wouldn’t want to wish that upon himself. Others, maybe. But not himself. He needed to get away.

Unfortunately, he was not able to move fast enough. He could hear footsteps approaching him quickly. He let out a soft groan as he lifted his head and turned it towards the source.

Not far away, he could see the rustling of foliage. It didn’t take long for the plants to part to the side, allowing for not one, but two figures to come through. He immediately recognized one as Theron. The second one, who had a limping gait and a somewhat pained expression in his eyes, he recognized even faster.

His eyes widened and his face paled. No..it couldn’t be... Not him... It’s not possible. How did he...?

Theron stopped a few feet in front. He was smirking down at Kairos, his eyes glinting with glee, his teeth showing in a smile. “See? What did I tell you? Exactly where I told you he was going to be.” He turned his head to the side, looking over at the other figure. “Since he is your brother, I think you should get to choose what we do with him.”

Kairos looked up at Cameo. The two locked eyes with each other, not daring to look away. The silence that followed was unbearable. Kairos wanted to fly away, run, anything. But he was helpless, and could only stare into his brother’s narrowed, icy blue eyes, which seemed colder now than they had ever been.

That look in his eyes... It was clear that Cameo was interested in a little payback. After what he had done to him, after how he had put him in this bandaged, limping position, needing a crutch to support himself, how could he be surprised with this?

As Cameo started to walk towards him, Kairos immediately let out a fright-filled shriek. He started to flap his wings furiously, desperately trying to get away. He must look so pathetic right now. Writhing around on the ground like a bird with a broken wing. Yet he still flapped, clinging desperately to the hope that he could get away and not give his brother any chance of payback.

But it was useless. He could feel his brother’s foot against his neck, the talons pressing against it. He immediately froze, knowing that, with just a little more pressure, his vital blood vessels in the neck could be severed. He looked up at Cameo, his bronze beak open and breathing in and out shakingly.

For a split moment, he could see a flashback in his head. He could see how he and him had similar looks back then, only now it was reversed. It was Cameo’s turn to stare at him coldly, with the sadistic intent of getting even. And there was nothing he could do about it.

“Say, dear brother...” Cameo finally spoke, his voice a low hiss. “Do you remember that thing you told me about before? About me feeling pain...” He tilted his head slightly to one side. “But you can’t...?”

Kairos nodded his head meekly. “Y-Yes...I remember that..”

Cameo’s beak twisted in a wicked smile. “Well then... This should make things quite...” He leaned in closer. “Interesting.”

Kairos widened his eyes in horror at this.


	37. Tying Up Loose Ends

Rudy and Penny guided Snap over towards the hospital doors, where Rapsheeba and Blocky were waiting. As soon as they had gotten to the surface, they immediately told them of what had happened, and they agreed to help.

They were slowed down a bit by some zoners who were concerned about how long they were gone. Getting through them was difficult, and trying to explain to them what happened was even a bigger challenge, given the urgency of the situation. They didn’t have time to answer the questions, and they convinced the zoners to wait until later.

It didn’t take them too long to reach the hospital doors thankfully. As they got close enough, Rapsheeba and Blocky moved in and they took each of Snap’s arms. They steadied him carefully, allowing him to lean on them, even though he still had his crutch to use.

“Will you guys be able to handle things from here?” Penny asked, holding her hand out in gesture. “You all good?”

It took just a few seconds for the zoners to answer back.

“Not a problem!” Rapsheeba said, waving her free hand up. “Blocky and I can take care of things from here!”

“You two worry about getting to the surface and explaining to your parents why you were gone until near midnight!”

Rudy froze at that. He turned to Penny, watching her eyes wide in shock along with his. Midnight? Had it really been that long? Rudy knew that spending time in the hospital would delay them, and he knew the trip back to the continent would have taken some time as well. But...to near midnight...?

Oh man, their parents... What were they going to say? How were they going to explain away this? He bit his lip nervously. This was going to be quite the challenge. Neither he nor Penny were all that well prepared for this. What were they going to do if their parents don’t believe any story they tell them? What would they do if their parents did something to limit their visits into ChalkZone?

“D-Don’t worry!” Penny spoke up after a moment’s silence. She was trying to sound as confident as possible, but it was clear from the tone of her voice that she wasn’t sure if she was going to be correct. “We already thought of something! It’ll be fine!”

Rudy stared at her in shock. “But Penny...”

“That’s good, then!” Blocky cut her off. His smile broadened. “I hope it’ll work out for you!”

“Yeah. I hope so, too! It would be nice to have things go back to normal!” Rapsheeba agreed.

“Yeah, definitely.” Snap said, his eyes narrowed. “And not be trapped like wild animals...” Rapsheeba and Blocky stared at him in concern.

“Well we should get going.” Penny raised her hand up and waved to them. “I’ll see you guys around!”

“All right, bye!” Snap called out to his friends.

They all said their goodbyes. Then Rapsheeba and Blocky began to guide Snap through the doors and into the hospital. Rudy and Penny turned and began to make their way towards a single direction. At the moment, they hadn’t really chosen which portal location they were going to use, so all they could do right now is walk.

Rudy turned to glare at Penny. “Why did you lie to them like that?” Penny stared at him with a confused expression. “You told them we had a plan, and I can tell you right now, we don’t!”

Penny flinched at this. She sighed and looked away. “I...didn’t want them to worry.”

Rudy placed his right hand on his face and shook it. “That will only make things worse. What if we don’t find anything we can do, and...”

“Would it really matter?” Penny frowned at him slightly. “What’s the worst our parents could do? Ground us?”

“Take away our chalkboards? Make us stay in detention at school for a long while?” Rudy raised his hand up slightly as he listed off a few things. “Keep a better eye on us and reduce our ability to be alone?”

Penny’s eyes widened at this. She looked away. “Oh... Right, that would be problematic...”

Rudy nodded his head. “That’s why you should have just told the truth instead of trying...”

“Okay, I get it! I’m sorry!” Penny snapped at him. Rudy widened his eyes and took a step back. Penny’s own eyes also widened and she lowered her head slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry, Rudy. I didn’t mean to...”

Rudy said quickly, “Oh, don’t worry about it.” He turned his head and watched out ahead as he and Penny continued their walking. “Let’s just...focus on thinking of what we are going to do with our parents.”

“Yeah...” Penny’s voice was low and soft. “I’m...sure they’re really worried about us.”

There was no doubt about that. Their parents would be worried. There was no ‘if’, there was only ‘yes’. It is normal for them to disappear for hours at a time, but they were gone until late into the night. This...was not something they normally did. They were never gone from school time all the way to near the stroke of midnight. If they ever went into ChalkZone at night, it would be when they were all home and their parents went to bed.

Rudy could already see it now. His mother smothering him with hugs and kisses. His dad scolding him, telling him what a bad boy he was for skipping out on school and worrying him and his mother to death. Penny’s mom giving Penny a stern lecture of responsibility.

Compared to what they had gone through in Chalklantis, this wasn’t too bad. At least their parents weren’t going to try to hurt them badly like King Zander did. But still...emotionally, it was going to be quite hard. They just hoped they could confront their parents and try to get this over with as soon as possible.

But there was something they needed to decide upon first: which way should they go?

“Should we go to my house, or yours?” Rudy asked as he stared at Penny. He bit his lip, and then took a step towards her. “Or should we go back to the library?”

Penny furrowed her eyes in concern. “It’s tough to say. It would be safest to head to our places, but...how would we explain that? Our folks might still be awake.” She turned and looked at Rudy. “I know my mom would if I were gone for so long. She’d wait all night if she had to. I’m not sure how your folks would be, but...”

“I would think at least my mom would be up.” Rudy scratched the side of his head. “It would be hard for me to explain how I came in through my bedroom window...”

“Same here.” Penny held up her hand in gesture. “We may be safer going to the library and trying to come up with the excuse that we got ourselves locked in there.”

Rudy nodded his head slowly. “Yeah...that might be our best plan.” He lifted his head and turned it in the direction of the library. Not wanting to waste any more time, he gestured for Penny to follow. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

sss

Going to the library.. It wasn’t exactly one of her best plans, but what else could they do? At least it was a location where their parents knew they were at last. If they had chosen a location pretty far, like the mall, would anything they try to tell their parents make much sense? They were only ten years old; it was hard for a parent to fathom their ten year old child walking across to the other side of town alone.

One consolance of going to the library was the fact that it was closed at this time. There would be no one in there. Far as she and Rudy knew, the library had no night guards. Going in would be easy. Then all they had to do was pick a location and act frightened as if they had been trapped in there for quite a while.

She hated the idea of tricking their parents like this, of fooling anyone else with such a lie. She didn’t like toying with emotions like that. But if it meant keeping ChalkZone safe, then...she’d do it.

She felt her stomach growling. She gently rubbed it, and licked her lips slowly. She really could use some food and drink right about now. Unfortunately, they had eaten up the remaining food at Chalklantis, as well as drank the remaining water. They would have to make do without it. They could always just sleep in the library. That would make things move a little faster, hopefully.

Their surroundings slowly became familiar. Penny looked around, recognizing this landscape, the colors on the ground, and the position of the clouds in the sky. And when they began to approach an all too familiar spot, she knew that they had made it.

Rudy stopped in front of the area where they both knew the librarian chalkboard would be. They took a moment and looked at each other. Their eyes conveyed the same message as before.

It was hard to believe that they were finally back. After all those hours being trapped in that hellhole of a place, they were finally home. Although they did plan on going back and although it was going to be much better, it would still feel like it was too soon. They needed a nice, long break from that place before they would be mentally ready to go back.

Rudy did not hesitate any further. He raised up his magic chalk and he drew a circle around in the air. The two children took a step back, watching as the light shined brightly for a few seconds before the portal made itself known. They could see the interior of the office they had snuck in, and the dim lights indicated that it was closed. Just like they had thought.

Rudy and Penny nodded to each other and they began to crawl in through the portal. Rudy was first. Then he turned around to help Penny. It didn’t take the two very long to crawl into the office. Penny took a moment to look around while Rudy erased the portal.

She noticed there were some extra chairs in here. She furrowed her eyes at this. There weren’t this many chairs when she and Rudy came in here. Had this librarian had an appointment with someone? No, that made no sense. If he was interviewing a new librarian, there would only be one seat; he wouldn’t talk to multiple ones at the same time. So what was up with the extra three chairs?

Her eyes widened in realization. Their parents... They must have come in here to talk to the librarian about their disappearance. Her gut wrenched as she thought of just how distraught her mother must be right now. She narrowed her eyes slightly. She would try to make it better, and then everything would be back to normal.

She turned her head just in time to see Rudy finish erasing the portal. The boy dropped the chalk and he started to head towards her.

“Okay, now all we need to do is...”

Rudy did not get a chance to finish. Two long, somewhat muscular arms shot out reached out from behind them and grabbed onto their bodies. The two children let out a shout of surprise and they struggled against whoever was holding them. They could feel themselves being pressed against something large and warm.

“Ah..so there really was something special about that chalkboard after all.” A familiar voice said. “I never would have dreamed it was that...”

The children widened their eyes as they watched the librarian, Denny, walk out from behind the desk where he had apparently been hiding. He looked at them with a strange expression. One that looked like it was a mixture of fear, awe, and surprise. Nowhere in that expression did he say what his intentions were, something that worried Rudy and Penny.

Looking behind them, they saw that a larger, more powerful-looking man was holding onto them. He had them picked up by their bodies like they were nothing more than rolls of sleeping bags. He did not seem to care too much of the pain and discomfort he was causing them.

Denny, on the other hand, took notice and appeared to sympathize a little with them. “Set them down, Ian. And guard the door. We will not let the little children get out.” He focused his eyes on Rudy and Penny. “They have a lot of explaining to do...”

Rudy and Penny looked at each other, exchanging looks of horror.

sss

Denny couldn’t believe what had just happened. Never in his life did he ever expect he would see something quite like this.

When he and Ian set up to wait, having taken all nighters to prevent themselves from falling asleep, they would have thought that the children would not have come. They were fully prepared for failure. Or at the very least, a trap door that perhaps only the boss knew about.

But to come in through the chalkboard like that... Neither of them would have expected it. He could still see Ian’s almost horrified expression as the two children crawled out, as if they were some aliens that have been given birth do.

Even as the two children were restrained, the chalkboard knocked down and Ian blocking their only way out, Denny still couldn’t help but regard them with a sense of wary. What kind of black magic did these children possess? How were they able to go through that wormhole they had seen? What was with the chalk that the boy had in his hand? What was with that world he seemed to have crawled out of like it was no big deal? Just...what was he going to do about this?

This was far bigger than some dusty old library. This was far bigger than anything he could even hope to imagine. This was a whole other world. Who knows what laid on the other side?

He noted the shocked looks in Rudy and Penny’s eyes. They looked so fearful, as if he and his buddy had found out some secret they weren’t supposed to know about. This only intrigued him further. Just what did he and Ian stumble upon this time? What did all of this mean? What were they going to do with this newfound information?

The man’s thoughts rang through his head as he contemplated what he was going to do. This portal...this dimensional, other-wordly aspect changed everything. He was going to pry whatever information he could from these children, even if it took the remainder of the night. He and Ian had time for some interrogation.

“Okay, children. Here’s the deal. You have nowhere to go, and there were still many hours left before the sun will rise and this place opens up. My buddy here will erase the footage after this, so you will not have any proof that this ever took place. If you want to go home soon, I suggest you cooperate and do as we tell you.”

The two children glanced at each other nervously. They then looked back at him. Their eyes were fear-filled, but there was still a spark of defiance. Something needed to be done about that.

“If you try to resist, then my associate here will offer some...persuasion...” He motioned towards Ian, who formed a fist with one of his hands to emphasis his point. “Understand?”

The children quickly nodded their heads.

Denny smiled at this. “That’s good, children. Now, why don’t you get more...comfortable?” He motioned towards the seats. “Please, sit down. We’re all friends here...”

The children glared at this, looking insulted by the comment. They did what they were told, however. They moved towards the seats and got down in them. They turned their heads away, not willing to look at him.

Ian was about to make a move, but Denny shook his head, stopping him. He didn’t really want to do anything with the children right this second. He was still contemplating just how he was going to go about this. He didn’t really wan to hurt them, and threatening them like this wasn’t something he had planned to do. But now that he started, he might as well finish. Plus, he might get some really good information from this.

The children’s parents will never know about this. And he would still help them get their kids back, just like he had promised. They would all benefit, and everything would be fine. Even if the children did end up hating him after this.

Denny moved towards the seat behind the desk. He sat himself down in it. He pulled himself until his stomach rested against the edge of the table. He narrowed his eyes and he leaned in. He stared intently at Rudy and Penny, his chin resting on his hand as his fingers tapped against one another. Just how was he going to start this? What question should he ask first?

Ah yes, he knew just the one. Simple, yet inevitable. The most important question.

“What was that world you two came in from?”

There was silence from the children. They glared at him, but the question did seem to make them falter a little. He noticed their flinches. Yes, it would seem that this world was important to them in some way. Perhaps it was their little secret hide out or something? Well he was about to learn a lot more about this so-called secret world they were trying to hide from everyone.

“I would appreciate if you children answered right away.” Denny spoke, his voice slightly darkened. “I wouldn’t want you two to get more injuries, now would you?”

Rudy and Penny widened their eyes as Ian gave them both a stern look. They looked back at him and immediately shook their heads.

“Good, now then...” Denny leaned back, resting his hands on the desk. “Let’s...talk...”

Denny did feel a level of guilt for making a threat like that. He could see both children were already hurt, and he guessed it must have been from that world. He could tell that the broken arm was new, and Penny wasn’t limping before.

This fueled the man’s desire to find out more about this place. What if it was toxic, highly dangerous? He needed to find out as much as possible so he could ensure that it was safe for everyone. He knew trying to get the children to talk might be risky, but it would be all worth it in the end. He would just have to make sure he drilled it in their heads that they do not report him or Ian, or else... Well, he hadn’t thought quite that far yet.

In due time, he reminded himself. In due time...

“Y-You see... We...uh...” Rudy stammered, his eyes darting left and right as he struggled to find the words to say. “We... There was no...”

Denny narrowed his eyes at this. “Don’t you dare lie to me, boy. Ian and I both saw you crawl out of the chalkboard.” He folded his arms against himself. “You might as well fuss up the truth.”

At this, Rudy widened his eyes. He looked at his friend, as if trying to seek help from her. Denny took notice of this, seeing the expressions in their eyes. It was as if they were offering support to one another. And when Rudy looked back, he frowned at him, looking defiant again and refused to open his mouth after that.

Hmm...so these two draw strength from one another. Perhaps he should do something about that. But..not yet. He had several hours to work with them. He might be able to convince them tos peak without having to actually separate them.

“Come on, children. We’re all friends here.” He spread his hands outward, attempting to look at least a little welcoming. “All I want to know is where you had come from. After all, it might be dangerous. You are both hurt.” Rudy and Penny just glared at him. Denny bit his lip. He cursed himself for not being that great with children.

“That world is none of your business.” Rudy said. His voice was stern and bold, filled with confidence. “We would never relinquish any information to you.”

Penny nodded her head in agreement. “You might as well let us go. You won’t get anything from us!”

Denny cocked up an eyebrow at this. “Oh I think different.” He turned his eyes up towards Ian. “I think I will find a way to make you two talk...”

The two children watched in fear as Ian moved towards them, his eyes slowly narrowing into slits. He stood beside them, on clear standby in case he ordered him to do anything. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to actually do this. But if he had to, then he would. This was of dire importance.

He searched his mind of how he was going to procede. He still wanted to wait before he tried to separate them. There had to be some way to make them crack, right? He just needed to find the right...method.

Finding the right one, however, was not going to be easy. He had a feeling that these two were going to be quite stubborn.

“I don’t think you two realize what you had stumbled upon. This... This is huge. This could help a lot of people..or it could make everything worse. This place needs to be investigated so we can have a proper analysis on it. We need to know, as soon as possible, if it’s safe or not. You two are the only ones who know about this place. It is up to you to relinquish the information so that the threat can be contained.”

“That place isn’t dangerous!” Rudy’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you just leave it alone? No one in that dimension wants to hurt anyone here!”

Denny widened his eyes slightly at this. Then they narrowed. “You are...certain of that?” He turned his head to the side. He watched as the boy and girl nodded their heads. “How are you so sure? Look at yourselves.” He motioned towards them. “You are both hurt. You trying to say that this wasn’t the work of that dimension?”

“No, it...it wasn’t..” Penny said. Denny took immediate notice of her hesitation and his eyes narrowed further.

“Oh? If that’s the case, then why were you two unharmed before you went in, and now you are both injured enough to require a hospital visit.” Denny tapped his fingers together. “I don’t want to delay your visit to the hospital, and I don’t want to have to give you another injury to convince you... But...” He snapped his finger once.

Rudy and Penny let out a cry of pain as Ian grabbed them by their hair. Their heads were yanked back, their hair and scalp tugged upwards. Their fingers flexed as they tried to deal with the pain.

“That’s enough.” Another snap and Ian let go. Denny watched as the children panted a few times, rubbing their sore scalps. “Do you children need another incentive?”

Rudy and Penny glared back at the man, still looking defiant despite the brief experience of pain with Ian. From this expression alone, Denny could tell that they weren’t going to relinquish the information easily. Perhaps he should move up the plan a little. He knew of a way he could get what he wanted. It would involve doing things he wasn’t going to be proud of, but he felt that he had no choice.

“All right then...” Denny leaned back in his seat. “I suppose I will have no choice then.” He folded his arms against his chest. “I do hope you two realize that, whatever is about to happen next, both of you could have avoided if you had just cooperated.”

Rudy bared his teeth. “Fuck you.”

Denny’s eyes widened, blazing with anger. He was about to launch himself at the kid before he managed to regain control of himself. He took in a few deep breaths, slowly managing to relax himself. He glared at Rudy for a few moments, and then turned to Ian.

“You know what to do.” Denny said.

Ian nodded and he walked over towards Rudy. He grabbed him by his right arm and yanked him out of the chair. He moved him towards one corner of the room. Penny watched in shock and she started to get up out of the chair.

“No, don’t you dare think about it.” Denny said in a warning tone. “Or things will end up worse for your friend there.”

Penny glared at him hatefully, but reluctantly stopped. She turned and watched Rudy, locking eyes with him and exchanging a sorrowful, regretful look with him. Rudy gave her an understanding expression before he turned to glare up at Ian. Ian glared back, but did not do anything to him yet. He turned his head, staring over at Denny, waiting for orders.

Denny nodded his head once. “You may start. Just...” He motioned his hand towards him. “Don’t do too much damage.”

Ian gave a nod of understanding to him. Then he looked down at Rudy. He pushed the small boy against the wall, causing him to grunt. Penny called out her friend’s name, but made no move towards him, fearful of making the situation worse. A few seconds later, the screaming began.

sss

“Ahhhh! Please stop this!” Rudy cried out.

“Please, stop! You’re hurting him.” Penny’s eyes were wide in terror. She turned over and looked at Denny. “Please, you have to stop this!”

Denny looked at her, narrowing her eyes. He then focused his attention back to Ian and Rudy.

Ian still had Rudy pressed against the wall. His broad hand was placed against the boy’s back and he was being shoved against the wall to keep him restrained. His other hand was gripping his broken arm. The man was tugging on it. Not hard, but enough to cause pain. With a broken bone, that wasn’t too hard to accomplish.

He looked at Rudy’s face. It was red and flushed with tears. It was clear that the boy wasn’t going to be able to handle this for much longer. He let out another wail, which almost seemed to echo in the room. At this point, Denny felt he had seen enough.

“Okay, let him go.” Denny said as he snapped his finger.

Ian immediately released Rudy’s arm, but kept him pinned there. Rudy’s screaming quickly died down, dissipating into cries and whimpers. His whole body shook and trembled as sobs wracked through it, and he could hear the boy give a few sniffles as he tried to settle himself down.

The sight of this did make Denny feel guilty. He didn’t really want to do this, and a part of him was telling him to just stop and let the children to. But no...that world... He knew the reason why he was doing this. He needed to learn more about that world. Otherwise... He shuddered to think about it.

He reminded himself that he was doing this for a good reason. He had a justifiable cause. These children were keeping a potentially dangerous world a secret. He was just...trying to learn about it so he can determine how safe it was. And if he had to hurt them a little to get there, then he would.

“So...are you now more willing to talk?” Denny asked as he glared softly at the boy. He listened to him cry for a few moments. When the boy didn’t answer, he added, “Oh come now.. I would think you’d know to listen by now.”

Penny shot him a tear-filled glare. “Just back off!”

Denny ignored her as he focused on Rudy. The boy was glaring at him, giving a similar expression as Penny. He was still crying softly as he tried to cope with the pain. Denny furrowed his eyes with concern at this. He really didn’t want to resort to anything too extreme. Perhaps now was a good time to try that separation thing.

Denny turned his head towards Ian. “Take the girl outside and keep her quiet. I don’t care what you need to do, just make sure she keeps her jaws closed.”

Ian nodded in understanding. He grabbed onto Penny and started to drag her off.

“Let me go! Unhand me!” Penny shouted in protest as she was dragged out of the door with Ian.

Rudy watched this in horror. “N-No...Penny...” He turned himself around and reached out with his hand. He staggered, nearly stumbling off of his feet. “N-No...” He found himself dropping into his knee, his body shaking as it still suffered a wave of pain from what was being done to his broken arm. He stared at the door with wide, horrified eyes for a few seconds, listening as his friend was being dragged further down the hallway. He then turned his head towards Denny. “Please...bring her back... I...”

Denny raised his hand up. “Do not worry. Ian won’t hurt her. Much...” He noted how the boy’s eyes widened at this. “We aren’t really interested in hurting you children, to be honest. All we want is information. If you would just cooperate, none of this would have happened.”

Rudy narrowed his eyes at this. “You...You can’t blame us for this... You chose to do this...!”

“Now see here! I...”

Denny stopped himself as he thought about that. True, he and Ian did choose to do this. They did have a choice of letting the kids go and forgetting about this whole thing. That would have prevented this from happening. Then again, so would have the children just talking when asked. They also had the power to stop this if they only just listened.

Instead of bringing that up, however, Denny took notice of Rudy’s expression. He looked so frightened right now. He could tell that the boy wanted to run away, and he could see that strongly in his eyes. He thought back to his plan, and decided now was the best time to start implimenting it.

“Come on over here, child.” Denny said in a gentle voice. Rudy just glared at him. Denny lifted up a finger and motioned it towards him, back and forth. “Come on now. Don’t be afraid. Just come on over here. Let’s talk.”

Still Rudy would not come over. Denny could feel his gut twist in frustration. But he managed to hold himself back. He would do himself no favors if he snapped at the boy. He would just need to go forward with the plan another way. If the boy won’t come to him, then he would just go to the boy.

Denny walked towards Rudy slowly. The boy pressed himself further against the wall, shaking harder as he got closer. When he got too close, Rudy started to move away from him. He glared at him, but that glare was faltering as fear become quite present on his face. Denny did not stop and he kept on following him, eventually causing the boy to get backed up against the corner. He moved in swiftly, blocking the boy’s way out. He watched him as he shivered in fear, and a few moments later, he made his move.

He wrapped his arms around the small child. Rudy immediately let out cries of protest. Denny kept him pressed against himself, concealing the boy in his warmth. He avoided his broken arm, pressing his other against his body to prevent its use. He rested his chin on his shoulder, pressing his head against his a little. He used his free hand to begin stroking the boy’s hair, massaging it where Ian had rougly pulled it, almost like a silent apology.

“Let me go!” Rudy screamed as panic began to rise in side of him. “Please!”

“Shh shh shh..” Denny whispered to him, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s all right. Everything will be okay.” He lowered himself to the ground, dragging the boy down with him. He forced Rudy to sit in his lap, keeping his body pressed against him. “You will be fine. Shhh...”

Denny continued to hold onto the boy gently, whispering soft words of comfort and gentleness to him. He could feel the boy’s heart rate start to slow down as he continued treating him this way. There was still tension, but at least he wasn’t freaking out as much as he did before.

There was a secret behind this method. Denny had learned about it sometime ago, though he forgot here. He was trying to teach Rudy that if he gave him what he wanted, then he would be rewarded with comfort and gentleness. If he continued to resist, more pain. This was something that he hoped the boy would pick up quickly. Denny did not want to have him get hurt again.

He could hear the boy sniffle, shedding more tears. He moved his hand down and stroked them away from his face. “It’s all right. Don’t cry, Rudy. You’ll be okay.” He caressed his cheek and moved his hand down his shoulder and along his arm for a few seconds. “It hurts me to see you in pain. Please, child. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

Rudy didn’t answer. He just kept sniffling, his head lowered and his eyes shut. Denny continued to hold onto him, gently cradling him against himself. He did his best to reassure Rudy, all the while warning him of what might happen if he refused to cooperate, doing so in a sorrowful voice so Rudy knew that he did not want to have this continue.

Although Rudy still didn’t answer, the man kept himself silent, refusing to say anything more other than the usual comfort words. It was now all up to Rudy. Would he see reason, or would he still resist?

Only time would tell.

sss

Rudy’s mind was filled with confusing thoughts. He had no idea what he was going to do in this situation. He couldn’t think of anything to say. Not even a retort.

He could see right through the man’s methods. He was attempting to get him to relax so he would speak to him. He was trying to make him feel more comfortable, to teach him that if he spoke up, he wouldn’t be hurt. Rudy was not going to fall for that trick. He had to keep his guard up.

So..why was he starting to relax in the man’s arms? There was something about the way the man was touching him that was..relaxing. He could hardly fight against it. It was almost as if the man tapped into his instincts or something. The gentle caresses and sweet, soft words were relaxing parts of his mind and his body, making it difficult for him to prepare to get up and run. How could he do such a thing when he was getting too relaxed?

He shook his head mentally and reminded himself of who was holding onto him. He reminded himself that he was trapped here, forced to lay against this man, who was trying to force information of ChalkZone out of him. Judging from the man’s words, he had no good intentions for the place. He couldn’t betray ChalkZone.

He couldn’t believe this was happening... He and Penny and just escaped Chalklantis, and now they had walked straight into more trouble. Just how much worse could their luck get at this point?

He feared for Penny. He could still feel the horrific pain of that man twisting his arm like that. What if he did something similar to Penny? What if he messed with her injured leg or arm? He wanted to go to her now. He wanted to help get her out and get away from these two crazy people.

But at the moment, he couldn’t do anything. His arm was pinned and his back was pressed firmly against the man’s body on the ground. He had no way, no angle to fight back. Even a kick would be useless.

All the while, the man kept stroking his hair, rubbing his shoulder, and caressing his arm. He was being very gentle with him. It was almost comforting if he didn’t remember just who this was. He wanted to feel filthy. He wanted to feel disgusted by this whole thing. Instead, he was powerless to stop his body from relaxing more and more in this man’s arms.

Suddenly he could feel the man’s fingers press against the back of his neck, rubbing against the base that connected to his skull and moving all the way along the top of the neck. Rudy could feel a few cold chills at first, but soon he relaxed and involuntarily shut his eyes as the man massaged his neck. He found his head leaning back as the man pressed his fingers against the base and rubbed there. Oh man...this felt so good... Slowly, he closed his eyes and found himself enjoying the massage.

Soon he shook his head as he realized what was going on. He let out a low growl and stared up at the man. He bared his teeth at him in warning. “I’m not telling you anything...” He said in a low growl.

“Hmph... Stubborn little boy, aren’t you?” Denny said with a scowl. At first, Rudy thought that he was going to order him to get hurt again. Instead, the man gave a soft smile. “Perhaps you just need to relax a little more. You seem...tense.”

Rudy soon felt the man’s fingers work his scalp. His eyes widened slightly as the man pushed against the center of the top of his head and gently moved it around in circles, carefully tugging at his scalp. He couldn’t deny it, this did feel good.

But he still refused to talk. He still continued to growl lowly, warning the man to stop it. He would not talk. Nothing this man did to him would ever mrake him talk.

It was clear that Denny just wasn’t getting the memo. He kept up the scalp massage, smiling as Rudy’s body started to relax more. Rudy tried to fight against it, but it was becoming harder as time passed. How could he remain so tense and afraid and angry when the man’s massages were feeling so good? He couldn’t deny it. He was...kind of enjoying this.

Then the man’s hand lowered and started to massage his forehead. Rudy’s body stiffened a little at this, and soon they relaxed. This felt even better. He found himself pressing his head against the hand, subconsciously wanting to more. Denny complied and continued to massage his head. A few moments later, he moved his thumb between his eyes, right where his nose began, and he applied pressure. Rudy felt a wave of pleasure spread out through his skull, making him close his eyes again.

“See, child? I won’t hurt you. I can be very nice.” Denny said in a gentle voice. “I can tell you’re liking this. If you would like me to keep doing it, just tell me what I want to know.”

Rudy opened his eyes and stared up at the man.

sss

Her heart pounding in her chest, Penny struggled against the man’s grasp. She tried to twist and turn, whatever she could to make him let go. But nothing was working. She remain trapped, pressed up against him with his legs over her body, holding her close to him. She was unable to even call out to him and make him let go. He was holding onto her head, his hands positioned so that he was keeping her from opening her mouth. A gag was placed in earlier to help further muffle her cries.

Penny couldn’t believe this was happening. How could they have just jumped out of the frying pan and into another fire? How did they not foresee this coming? How could this have happened? How could they have let this happen?

Penny soon realized that she and Rudy were not as careful as they thought they were. Their movements before had aroused suspicion. That man...or this one, one of them had spotted them fleeing into the back room. Why else would they have waited there for them? Why else would they have gone through this trouble just to catch them?

She felt a sting of guilt. She couldn’t help but feel in a way responsible for this. She should have been more careful. She should have realized this could happen. Why didn’t she and Rudy move quieter? Why did they flee, thus gaining the attention of the librarian or whoever?

Another thought came to her mind. What if that’s not what happened? Maybe they didn’t actually see them during the day, but the cameras... Oh darn, she had forgotten about the cameras. She could feel her heart racing at the thought of ChalkZone being caught on footage. Did these men have such footage at their disposal? And if so, where was it?

Penny continued to struggle against the man. She could hear him grunt as he struggled to hold onto her. She kept trying to resist. She couldn’t give up. If there was even a slight chance that ChalkZone might be exposed...

She turned her eyes down and saw that the man’s fingers were pretty close to her mouth. But biting would be out of the question. Even she could free her head, the gag would prevent her from making an affective bite. And her arms were pinned against her body. She tried not to flinch as she felt the man’s limbs press up against her injuries. However, her legs were still free. If she could just reposition them, then maybe...

It was no use. No matter how much she tried to strike back, it was impossible. She could not get a good enough angle. If this man were in front of her, then maybe it would be feasible. But not like this.

She soon realized there was one more thing she could try. It would seem that she did have some movement in her hands. And the legs themselves were positioned pretty close to them. If she could just get hold of at least one leg, maybe she could provide some encouragement for the man to let her go.

She twisted her wrists around. Doing so with such little room wasn’t easy. She narrowed her eyes in determination and kept on pushing her hands until they were in the position she needed them on. There wasn’t too much flexibility, but she was still able to feel the jeans that covered his legs. She moved her fingers up and down until she found a suitable spot, then she grabbed a hold, pinching as hard as she could.

The man let out a yelp of pain and his grip did falter a little. Penny, encouraged by this, applied further pressure, hoping to discourage the man enough to make him let go. She could feel the man start to let go. Just a little more...

Suddenly she was shoved against the ground. The side of her faced collided with the hard surface. She let out a yelp of pain, shutting her eyes for a few moments. She turned her eyes to look up, baring her teeth as she locked her gaze with the man. She could see just how infuriated he looked.

“You stupid brat! How dare you!” The man hissed at her. “You couldn’t just hold still, could you?!”

Penny quickly realized that the man wasn’t holding onto her jaws anymore, nor were both her arms pinned. With her free limb, she took off the gag. She smacked her lips a few times, trying to get the taste of cloth out. Then she glared up at the man and said, “Hey! You were the one who captured me and my friend! We hadn’t done anything to you!”

The man gritted his teeth at this. “This wouldn’t have happened if you two just told us what we wanted to know! But I suppose you don’t care if someone else wanders in that forsaken world, now do you?!”

“That’s not true!” Penny squirmed as she tried to free herself. She gritted her teeth as she felt him twist her arm behind her back. “We...” She hissed. “We are keeping it a secret so that no one can stumble into it...” A partial truth, but she wasn’t sure how well the man would handle it if she tried to defend the people in that world. Best to make it sound like she was doing this for the benefit of other humans.

The man stared at her for a few moments. His grip on her loosened up slightly, but not enough to allow her to get away. For a few more seconds, there was just silence, the only sound being breathing and Penny’s struggles. It was only after a while longer that The man began to speak.

“If you were so worried about others, then you would have reported this world.” The man hissed at her. “What if someone else stumbled upon this place and they got hurt, just like you and your friend did?” He tilted his head to one side. “Not telling someone about this would be irresponsible. You should have informed someone about this place sooner. You were lucky that no innocents had been lost to this place.”

“H-How could anyone have gotten in...” Penny seethed. “...if Rudy and I were the only ones who know how to get into this place?”

The man paused for a moment. It seemed at first she had gotten through to him. But then he narrowed his eyes and scowled at her. “They could have watched you...and copied you. Then they would have gotten lost in that world and they would have gotten hurt, even killed, and it would be all your fault...”

Penny gritted her teeth. What could she say to make this guy understand? How could she and Rudy convince the two of them to leave ChalkZone alone? The temptation to defend the zoners was great, but that might just label them as traitors in their eyes. And stating that they were just trying to protect people didn’t seem to have much of an effect either.

She refused to give up. There had to be some sort of angle she and Rudy could try. Something to that would get these two to let them go and not utter a word about ChalkZone. But...how?

She could hear the man give an exasperated sigh. She could detect frustration in it, which perfectly matched the tone the man had been using. But now she could detect something else on that voice. Disappointment? Sadness? Some kind of negative emotion that had her confused.

“I wish you children would understand. We... We don’t want to hurt you. We never did. We were only supposed to wait for you, see if you came back, and tell your parents. They’re...worried about you, you know.”

Penny flinched at this, feeling her heart twist. She remained silent as the man continued.

“But then Denny got suspicious of the chalkboard and he thought something might be up with it and...well he was certainly right about that. You two came out of it injured... We got worried. I know that hurting you and threatening you was wrong. We just...want to make sure that no one else will get hurt. All we want is cooperation. Please...try to understand...”

Penny could feel the grip loosen on her even more. She did not try to squirm. Her eyes were too focused on the man. She couldn’t help but feel a level of confusion and uncertainty at the man’s change of demeanor. She wasn’t sure if she could trust it or not, or if the man was being genuine.

The man had his gaze lowered, turned away. She could see the eyes shining with regret. No tires, just a bit of a shine. He then looked back at her. She felt herself flinch when she saw the expression.

“That’s exactly what Rudy and I want from you guys.” Penny said softly, her eyes remaining somewhat narrowed. “We just want you to understand where we are coming from. We don’t want to cause trouble and we would feel horrible if someone else got in danger because of us. Why do you think we chose to keep this place a secret? We aren’t being irresponsible. If word of this got out, do you really think that people would just stay out?”

The man was silent at this. This encouraged Penny to resume talking.

“We know how stubborn people can be. If they don’t know about this place, then they would not try to break in. Rudy and I are the only ones who know how to get in and out. So long as it stays that way, there is nothing to fear. No one will get hurt.”

Penny didn’t bring up how Vinnie Raton and Terry Bouffant also know about ChalkZone. Thankfully, their knowledge of the place appeared to be limited. The chances of them spreading the word about ChalkZone, especially with all the rumors about them and the general distrust towards them, was highly unlikely.

“But still...” The man started to say. “Someone might...”

“How?” Penny glared at him. “How could they try to get in if they don’t know of this place?”

“I... Well... They might see you like I said, and...”

“Don’t you think Rudy and I had thought about that? Why do you think we try to pick secluded locations to go to this world? It’s to prevent anyone from seeing what we are doing. We aren’t stupid, you know.” Penny narrowed her eyes a little further. “We are doing what we can to keep this place a secret.”

“And yet you got hurt.” The man pointed out.

“Yeah, and you and your boss hurt us more.” Penny growled. “How could you do that? You saw that we were in need of help and you still...” She shut her eyes and looked away. “How can I believe that you two had good intentions when you are treating us like a couple of criminals?” She looked back at him. “What if word of this got out? What if more people found out what you two did? Do you really think they would listen to anything else you had to say?”

The man’s eyes widened at this. “I..” He paused for a moment, biting his lip. “Well...we did consider the possibility..”

Penny hissed at this. “Yet you still chose to hurt us anyway... You should be ashamed of yourself.”

The man stared at her, his eyes blinking. At first, he looked guilty, lowering hs head slightly in remorse. Then, his eyes narrowing again, he turned to glare at her softly. “And you should be ashamed for worrying your parents...” Penny’s eyes widened. “Do you have any idea how worried they were? What... What possessed you and your friend to stay in that forsaken place for hours?”

At this, Penny felt some of her anger leave her, replaced with her own guilt. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “We... We didn’t mean to. We just... Something happened and..” She shook her head slowly. “We never meant to worry them.” She reopened her eyes and stared into the man’s glaring face. “Please, w-we..we... we didn’t mean to...”

The man cut her off. “I do hope it was all worth it. Whatever you two needed to do in that place, I hope it was worth frightening the heck out of your folks. I had never seen parents so worried before...”

Penny took in a sharp, shaky breath. She closed her eyes again, lowering her head.

“But...”

She looked back at the man. She noticed that he looked sad again, a little more so than before.

“We should have thought this out more carefully.” The man rubbed the back of his head nervously. “We could have found a better way to handle this.” He glanced down at her. He took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. “I’m... I’m sorry...”

Penny stared at him for a few moments. Unable to think of how to respond, she just turned her head away. Soon she became aware of someone wrapping their arms around her. She could feel herself being pressed against the man again. This time, this embrace felt less like a trap and more comforting. She could feel the man gently rub along her arm and back. His chin rested on her head.

“I’m so very sorry...”

sss

So far, he wasn’t having much luck with this kid. He was still stubborn, even with all the nice gestures he was giving him. He was doing things that the boy obviously liked, such as a neck message. And still he resisted. Why won’t the boy just surrender and tell him what he wanted to know?

Despite his frustration, however, he did not resume hurting him. Denny no longer had interest in that. He felt too guilty from before, and he liked the boy much better when he wasn’t screaming in pain.

He held the boy against him. He did not allow him to get free, but he did not restrain him too much, as he did not want him to feel hopelessly trapped. He had the boy’s head pressed against himself, the side of his face against his shoulder. His hand was on the boy’s head and he gently stroked his hair and rubbed his scalp.

The boy had struggled for a while, wanting to get free. But the longer he was nice to him, the less he resisted. Though the boy still refused to talk about this alternate dimension, he no longer tried to get away. He rested against him, his eyes partially closed from the head massage he was giving him. It was as if the boy craved human contact. It made him wonder even more just what happened to him and Penny.

“Listen, kid, I...” Denny began to say. He could feel Rudy’s head move, and he could tell that he was looking at him right now. “I’m sorry about what I did to you two. It’s just that... I’m worried about what happened to you. I’m worried it might happen to more people. Why can’t you two see that?” He shut his eyes and shook his head. “If you two would have just cooperated...”

Rudy spoke in a somewhat darkened voice. “It’s kind of hard to speak when we’re screaming..”

“Yes, I know.” Denny said softly. “I’m sorry.”

After that, Denny fell silent. He lifted his head up and he turned his gaze towards the ceiling. He took in a deep breath and sighed. With the room becoming largely silent, save for the exhaling and inhaling of breath, Denny went into deep thought.

What was he going to do now? How was he going to make sure that this world was safe and not dangerous? How was he going to spread the word about it and inform others of its existence to prevent further incidents...if the boy just won’t talk? Hurting him didn’t work, and being nice doesn’t seem to have an effect on him.

He wished he could think of something to help the boy understand where he was coming from. He had already told him that he was just concerned for him, but that didn’t seem to make the boy want to talk more. He didn’t want to resort to hurting again. He didn’t want to bring in Ian to make him hurt Penny in front of Rudy. No, he wanted a better way. Besides, doing such a thing would only increase the odds of him being arrested. If someone somehow got footage of what was going on here...

He was drawing a blank. He couldn’t really think of anything else that he hadn’t tried yet. He couldn’t believe just how ill-prepared he was. If only there was a more sure fire why of making the boy see his point of view...

His eyes twinkled a little. He believed he just might have found the thing that might help Rudy see reason.

“I noticed that you and your friend were both injured.”

Rudy nodded his head. “Yeah I know... But, we’re fine now. We’re back home and...”

“You still need a trip to the hospital.” Denny cut him off. He worked the boy’s scalp and forehead gently as he continued, “It could have been so much worse. What if Penny had a much worse injury? Would you feel guilty? Could you live with that guilt?”

“What are you...?” Rudy whispered softly. “I...”

“And what of your parents? How would they feel if you didn’t come back? Or if you got hurt even worse? How would you feel about that?”

Rudy gritted his teeth. He opened his mouth to reply, but he quickly shut it.

Denny said, “I know you must love your family very much. What if one of them was caught in that world? What if one of them somehow found a way in, and they ran into trouble. How would you feel if something like that happened?”

He noticed the boy’s eyes widened in horror that. No, not just horror. Recognition. Denny blinked a few times at this. It took him only a few seconds to realize what this meant.

“It..happened before, didn’t it...?” Denny said softly. Rudy hesitated, and then nodded his head. “Were they fine?” Another nod. Denny frowned at this. “You were lucky they didn’t get hurt from that. Don’t you see? This is exactlty why you shouldn’t have kept this world a secret, boy. If you had told someone, you might have...”

“...caused more incidents like that..”

Denny paused at this. He tilted his head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is..” Rudy moved his head up so that he could stare at him in the eyes. “People are stubborn and they are going to want to enter this world. Off limits or not. More people could get hurt as a result. You know how stubborn folks can be. Letting everyone know about this world, and then making it offlimits to only a select few would only further fuel people’s attempts of getting in.”

Denny let this sink in. He..hadn’t really thought of it like that before. The boy may have a point there. People wouldn’t try to break into a world they didn’t know about. And if word of this got out, there might be further attempts of trying to break in, and an increased chance of someone getting hurt.

Still, he wasn’t so sure if keeping it a secret was the best idea to go with. There was still a chance that Rudy or Penny wouldn’t be careful enough, and someone would find out about this place and how to get in. Without common knowledge, a missing person’s loved ones and relatives would go on forever without knowing what happened to them. And there were still other things to consider as well.

He realized he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wasn’t sure which path was the correct one. He didn’t know which way that he should turn. Which road would have the least amount of obstacles and problems? Which one would be the ‘lesser’ of the two ‘evils’?

He looked down at the boy, biting his lip. He let out a sigh and did the only thing he thought he could do.

He turned to the boy for negotiation.

“Okay then.. What do you suggest?” He asked.

“That you leave this world alone, let me and my friend go, and don’t say a word about this to anyone.”

Denny frowned at this. That didn’t seem like too fair of a trade. All he would be doing was giving in completely. No, if he was going to relent, so was the boy. There had to be some sort of middleground. Some way they could both benefit from this.

“What do I get out of it?” Denny asked.

Rudy blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...what do I get out of this?” Denny answered back. “How would I benefit from not telling anyone?”

Rudy looked like he wasn’t sure how to respond at first. He was clearly having difficulty thinking of something to say. Soon he managed to speak. “Is there...something that you wanted? That doesn’t involve this world?”

Denny paused for a moment. He tapped his chin thoughtfully as his eyes furrowed slightly. “Well..” He looked back at the boy. “There is...one thing...”

sss

Rudy and Penny listened while Denny and Ian explained the situation to them. They kept quiet, not interrupting once. They both wanted a more complete understanding of what was going on.

Rudy still felt a little sore from what was done to him earlier, and he was still a bit peeved at how they just dragged Penny away like that. He was glad that Denny appeared to be getting into a more agreeable mood and let Penny come back in with Ian. He was also glad to see that Ian seemed a bit regretful for what he had done as well.

He stood next to his friend as they watched the men, listening to their words. It didn’t take them too long to finish what they were telling them.

“And that’s what was going on.” Denny said, finishing up the story.

“As you can see, there’s been some..issues here lately.” Ian held up his hand in gesture. “We want to improve things, but..”

Denny turned his head down, his eyes furrowing softly. “No one will believe me... I know I’m not all that fond of children, but at least I’m not so absent-minded that I just let them get away with anything they want. What if they get hurt?” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “It won’t reflect well on this library. That’s for certain..”

Rudy and Penny remained silent at this. They stared at each other, allowing this information to sink in. They were both aware of the boss of this library being a little too lenient. But it had never bothered them before. They didn’t think it was a big deal.

But now listening to these two’s testimony, they were starting to see why it would be problematic. What if there was a case in the future where someone was kidnapped from here as a result of disobeying the rules, and the boss tried to cover it up? From what they were told, the boss did seem to care more about his reputation than the actual children he claims to like.

“So..what do you children think?” Denny finally asked after a bit more silence.

The two children were silent for a while. They glanced at each other, but said no words. Both became lost in their own thoughts, trying to figure out what they were going to do. Normally, they would want to just stay out of this, but they had been placed in a situation where this wasn’t possible. Given that these guys wanted a negotiation, and they appeared willing to strike a deal regarding ChalkZone if this was a success, they had to think of something.

Rudy narrowed his eyes and tried to think as hard as he could about this. It wasn’t going to be an easy decision. Despite learning about his negligence, he still kind of liked the boss of this library. He seemed like a sweet man. He wasn’t sure if he could do anything to harm him in anyway.

And yet... He couldn’t overlook the fact that this man’s actions may end up causing someone getting hurt some day. If something wasn’t done about that...

And what about ChalkZone? If he and Penny refused to help with this, what would happen to ChalkZone? They needed to do whatever they could to prevent these two men from getting to that world, or exposing it. If helping them with the boss would keep their mouths shut about ChalkZone... Then he supposed they had no choice.

But how were they going to go about this? Rudy couldn’t really think of anything. He turned to Penny, noting her thoughtful expression. It was hard to tell if she had come up with anything yet or not.

Penny soon turned her head and looked at him. She stared at him in the eyes for a few seconds, and then looked over at the two men, who were waiting patiently for one of them to speak. Soon, Penny finally spoke.

“Well... I can think of one way...” She soon frowned, lowering her gaze. “But it’s...not going to be pretty.”

Rudy stared at her in curiosity. “What are you suggesting, Penny?”

Rudy and the two men stared at the girl for several moments. They waited for her to respond, all of them wondering just what she was suggesting that would seem so bad. Penny gave them all a regretful expression, sucking on her lip. Then she lowered her gaze and closed her eyes.

“We frame him.”

This sent shockwaves through the room. Both Denny and Ian glanced at each other, eyes widened. Rudy gave Penny a disbelieving look, a part of him hoping that she wasn’t being serious. They... They couldn’t possibly do anything like that.. right?

“Penny.... There has to be another way. We can’t just...”

Penny gave him a soft glare. “Do you have a better idea?”

“I..” Rudy tried to think of something. But soon he shut his mouth. He shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

Penny nodded her head. “This is hard for me, too. But...” She paused, gritting her teeth. “I don’t think we have much of a choice here.” She turned her attention to Ian and Denny. “We’ll help you frame this guy so you can get what you want... in exchange for keeping that world a secret.” She narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Say one word, and we will expose you as a fraud, and prove the innocense of that man.”

Denny and Ian nodded in agreement. There was a bit of silence at first, but soon Denny took a step forward. He had an expression on his face that told the children that he had something he wanted to add. “And if you leak information about that man being framed, we will show everyone evidence of that world of yours.”

Rudy stiffened at this, taking a step back. He looked over at Penny. He was perplexed by how she wasn’t startled by this. He soon realized that this was exactly what she wanted. To put them both in a stalemate position, where they had no choice but to keep the promise. They were locked in place now, and there was little chance either of them would break the promise, not while something important to them would be affected if they deviate from the agreement.

Rudy and Penny took a few steps forward. They each faced one of the men. Their eyes locked onto each other as they sought to fully understand the other side. Their eyes remained narrowed, and they darted around, looking for any sign of dishonesty from the opposition.

Soon, Rudy and Penny raised their hands up. Denny and Ian did likewise. They reached towards each other and they gripped each other’s hands. They shook them once, each of them saying in unison a single, yet powerful word.

“Deal.”

sss

“No! It’s all a mistake! You can’t do this to me! I love children! I would never hurt them like that!”

The policemen weren’t having any of the man’s bullshit. As they took the former librarian boss into the police car, they listed off his rights. The man struggled, but there was no way he was going to be able to escape. In a few moments, he was shoved into the car. They drove off.

Even as the car was driven away, Mr. Tabootie could still hear the man’s shouts for innocense. His stomach twisted in disgust, unable to believe what that man had done. He and his wife had always thought he was nice, and then..he did something like this...

He watched as his wife held onto Rudy. Not far, he could see Penny being held by her mom. They both suffered from injuries, such as burns and cuts. Poor Rudy had a broken arm, while Penny’s leg was badly sprained. The sight of this made him flinch. He knew that this was only part of what that man had done. Rudy and Penny couldn’t tell them everything; from their shaking and whimpering, he knew that they were traumatized.

He didn’t want to think about what that evil man had done to them. He just wanted to be glad that they were back, safe and sound. They both needed a trip to the hospital, especially Rudy. But at least they were safe and they would recover.

At least physically. He was worried for their mental states. Depending on what else that man did to them... He couldn’t stop the horrible images coming to his head. He did his best to push them aside, but this soon became impossible. He couldn’t help but feel a cold shiver go up his spine. Those poor, poor children... He had to wonder.. Were there any other victims?

“I’m so sorry about what happened.”

Mr. Tabootie turned his head to see Denny coming towards him. The man had recently been given the title of boss and now currently ran the library. He couldn’t help but give him a smile. This man did help save his son and Penny.

“That’s all right.” Mr. Tabootie said. He bit his lip for a second, turning his head to the side. “I just..wish I knew... I...”

“I didn’t know either. I mean..I always thought he was such a great guy. But...” Denny shook his head in disappointment. “For him to lie to your children like that, trick them into coming here...only for them to be captured and dragged in that awful basement...” His eyes flashed in horror, clearly remembering the things that he had seen. He shivered once and shook his head. He tried his best to smile. “At least it’s all over now.”

Mr. Tabootie nodded his head. “Yeah... Such a relief...”

Denny nodded his head once and fell silent. He stared at him for a few moments, giving him a sympathetic expression. He then rubbed the back of his head and turned his head towards the library. “Well I need to get going. There’s a policeman in there asking some questions to Ian and I know they want to ask me some ore.” He looked at Mr. Tabootie. He gave him a smile and placed his hand on his shoulder. “I...wish you and the others the best of luck.”

“Yeah...Thanks.” Mr. Tabootie tried to smile the best he could. He watched as Denny walked away. His smile quickly faded. He turned his head and stared over at his wife and at Mrs. Sanchez.

The two women held onto their children. Rudy and Penny were still shivering and whimpering. They looked like they were too terrified to let go. They remained burrowed against their mothers, who were caressing their hair and rubbing their backs and whispering comforting words, trying to soothe them. Despite their best efforts, it didn’t seem like the children were going to calm down any time soon.

Mr. Tabootie watched this sadly for a few moments. He took in a deep breath and he let out a soft sigh. He walked over towards them slowly. He stood in front of them. He could see his wife and Mrs. Sanchez looked up at them. He could feel his heart shatter as he saw their expressions. They were of absolute despair and horror.

Exhaling slowly, Mr. Tabootie did his best to control his emotions. He had to remain strong. Not just for himself, but for these two women, and for Rudy and Penny. He reached over and placed his hand on the back of Rudy’s head. His chest stung as he felt his son’s body shivering underneath his hand.

He looked at his wife in the eyes, exchanging emotion-filled expressions. Then he said, “C-Come on... Let’s go home.”

sss

Rudy was glad that Penny and her mom decided to come over to his house. Mrs. Sanchez wanted to talk to his parents more about what had happened to them. They were still having a hard to believing it.

While they spoke, Rudy and Penny stayed in his bedroom. It took them a while to convince their folks to let them go up alone. Their parents were worried sick about them, especially after what happened...or rather, what they believed had happened to them. Rudy did eventually reassure them that he and Penny just wanted to spend some time together, claiming that they had been separated the whole day and tormented separately. Only then did their parents relent and let them be together alone.

Rudy did feel filthy about what he and Penny had participated in. He had never wanted to frame someone before. He would have to live with the guilt of having sent an innocent person to jail. This wasn’t like what happened to Vinnie. Sending him to prison was not what he had intended. This was the first time that this had been done deliberately.

He could tell that Penny did not look happy with herself either. She had hardly spoken and her gaze was turned away. He could understand why. She probably felt the most guilty of the two because it was her idea to do this.

He could understand her reasoning. They had been placed in a tough situation. Captured by those two men and nearly forced to give up information regarding ChalkZone... So much could have went wrong. If it weren’t for Penny’s quick thinking, which resulted in both of them in a secure stalemate, who knows what would have happened?

Although he had already comforted her and tried to calm her down after he and her were finished with the plan that would set that former librarian boss plenty of time in prison, she still hadn’t relaxed completely. It may take a long time before either of them could recover mentally from what they had to do.

He did his best to cheer himself up. He reminded himself that by sacrificing one person, they had managed to keep ChalkZone safe. Considering what could have happened if ChalkZone were exposed, then this situation, although guilt-ridden, was preferable.

He sat down next to Penny. The two f them were on his window sill, their backs turned to the window. They leaned against each other for support. He could feel her head resting on his shoulder. He pressed the side of his face against her hair, his good arm looped around her and pulling her close.

They recently visited the hospital. They were all patched up and his arm was put in a more proper cast. Thankfully, it didn’t take as long as he thought. Neither he nor Penny required an overnight stay. The break in his arm wasn’t as bad as it first appeared and just required righting it. Incredibly painful, but it was worth it to have his arm properly casted and resting against his chest. He was glad Penny turned out to be all right as well, with no really bad injuries that required more than a few hours stay at the hospital.

As he rested against Penny, he tilted his head up and began to think of what they had been through. He couldn’t help but feel a strong pang of...something that he couldn’t specifically identify, as he thought about Chalklantis and how their trip there had turned out.

For so long, they had wanted to go down to Chalklantis. They had wanted to see what it was like, learn about the culture, everything. It was such an enticing trip, and he and his friends were always excited to go, only to have everything dashed by some kind of event. It had become a distant dream and they began to wonder if it would ever be possible to go there.

Then they got invited by the king and they thought their dream had come true. Only it turned out to be a scheme by the king to get them trapped there, and he tried to kill them all. He had gotten worse by the hour, and eventually exposed his true colors as a monster. His general was no different, and was equally, if not more, disgusting.

As a result, for a while, his opinion of Chalklantis had been scewed. He no longer wanted to be a part of it and would rather it stay lost. He wanted to leave and never come back. He knew that his friends felt the same way.

But now all that had changed. With both King Zander and General Kairos taken care of, and a new king being put into place, Rudy was confident that Chalklantis would be a much better place to visit. He was certain that the zoners would be far more welcoming this time, especially after they learned how the king had allowed some of them to get hurt all for...

...he still didn’t know what the king’s plan was. Rudy could feel his gut twist. None of them ever had a chance to pry the full story from the king. He was dead now. No way he could have survived that explosion. Now it was impossible for any interrogators to get the information from him. All he and the others could do was speculate what the king was up to. It would forever remain a mystery. But at least there was a plus side to this.

Chalklantis was free, and they would never have to worry about that king or his general again.

Well it was almost free; there was still the matter of the disease that was released. He and Penny, despite their misgivings about going back, still wanted to help in stopping that. He knew Snap would also want to go back and help. They hadn’t yet decided when they’d go back, but Rudy wanted it to be as soon as was convenient. They had to stop that disease. He was certain that, with his friends’ help, they could stop the head deflator disease that the king cruelly unleashed on his people, and make it a safer place to be in.

He turned his head and looked over at Penny. He could see how worried and upset she looked. He bit his lip, furrowing his eyes as he tried to think of something to help cheer her up. His eyes brightened when something did come to mind.

“Hey...why don’t we visit Snap?” Rudy suggested, holding up his hand in gesture. “I’m sure he will love the company.”

Penny looked at him. She had a sorrowful expression for a few moments. Then she nodded her head slowly, a small crack of a smile appearing on her face. “Yes... that sounds nice.”

Rudy smiled back at her, and the two of them climbed out of the window sill. They moved towards the chalkboard. Rudy took a piece of magic chalk and created a portal. Helping each other, they stepped into ChalkZone and erased the portal behind them. Then they immediately made their way towards the hospital.

sss

Snap couldn’t stop the smile from growing on his face as he saw his two friends walk into the hospital room. He had been getting a little lonely, even though Rapsheeba and Blocky hadn’t been gone that long and had promised to come back soon. He motioned for Rudy and Penny to come in and showed them where the chairs were.

“How are you feeling?” Rudy asked, being the first one to speak.

Snap flinched a little as he felt the jabbing pain in his side. He could see his friends looking at him with concerned looks. He tried to hide the pain the best he could, but he knew he would not be able to fool them for long. “Mostly fine. Better than I was before.” He looked down at his casted leg. “I won’t be able to walk for a while.”

“How long?” Penny asked. “A few months I think...”

“Yeah, right around there.” Snap frowned at this. He hated the idea of being trapped in this bed for all that time. Oh well, there was nothing he could do about that. At least he was still alive. “And you guys?”

“We’re both fine. It will take us a while to heal up.” Rudy said. He glanced down at his arm. His eyes darted over to his leg cast, as if realizing how much they seemed to compliment each other. Then he said, “But the doctors believe we will be fine in a few months.”

Snap smiled at this. “That sounds wonderful. A few months, and then we can go back to exploriating.”

“Yes.” Penny said, nodding and smiling.

Snap couldn’t wait. There were still other places in ChalkZone they hadn’t been to yet. There were always new worlds being created. Many lost worlds, hidden worlds, bizarre worlds. He couldn’t wait until their next trip. He wondered what other place they were going to visit next.

He hoped that none of them turned out anything like Chalklantis had. He still couldn’t believe what had happened to him and his friends. If he had known that they were going to be treated like that...

Well at least it was all over now. The king and general were stopped and could no longer bring harm to the citizens. It had finally been transformed into a place that was more worthy of a visit. He wasn’t sure if he would want to go back, or when. A part of him was still debating that, considering the kind of negative impact the place left on him. But...he couldn’t blame the Chalklantians for their treatment. No, the only ones that deserved any of the blame were King Zander and General Kairos. It was all their fault that this had happened.

“So, Snap..” Rudy started to say, breaking the silence. “In a few months, after we’re all healed...”

The boy’s voice trailed off. He bit his lip, looking nervous. Snap stared at him in confusion.

Penny finished for him. “We were thinking of another trip to Chalklantis, after we are all feeling better of course. Right now would be kind of ridiculous.”

Snap widened his eyes at this. “You..want to back there...so soon? After what had happened?”

Penny nodded her head. “It should be much better with the new king. And, well... there is that disease...”

“I did promise them that I would try to find the cure for it.” Said Rudy, his eyes narrowing in determination. “I do not want to turn my back on them. I don’t want to allow that disease to continue wreaking havoc in that city. As soon as we are able-bodied and healed up, we’re going back.”

Snap couldn’t help but admire Rudy and Penny’s courage and determination here. They were both willing to go back to the same place that had tormented them, and help out the zoners. Even though the city would indeed be much better now that the zoners know they aren’t the bad guys, Snap couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread of the idea of going back.

This head deflator disease... What if he caught it? How was it spread? What would they do if he had it? Would he go insane? Would Rudy and Penny be able to save him? This and many other worrying thoughts spread through his head.

But he couldn’t turn his back on them either. He just couldn’t help it. He was designed to be a hero, and that’s what he was going to be.

“If you and Buckette are going, count me in.” Snap said dutifully, placing a hand against himself.

His friends smiled at them gratefully. “Thanks, Snap...”

Snap nodded his head, giving them a determined-filled smile. He was not going to back down from this. Despite his fears of going back, he could not allow the deaths of innocents to be on his conscience. He wanted to do whatever he could to help stop that terrible disease. He did not want to allow King Zander’s ‘legacy’ to continue.

After a few moments of silence, Snap decided to try to break the tension. He didn’t want to keep dwelling on King Zander, or on Chalklantis in general. Not right now. He just wanted to spend some time with his friends and be happy that he and them were on their way to recovery. They had plenty of time to think of strategies of how to deal with that terrifying disease. For now, they should just enjoy themselves.

And he knew just the thing.

“Hey, Bucko, Buckette..”

Rudy and Penny stared at him expectantly. Snap smiled at them broadly, offering a playful grin.

“How about a game of Chinese Chalkers?”


	38. Epilogue

Theron took in a deep, long breath, and sighed. He took a moment to survey his surroundings, smiling as he watched his fellow villagemates wandering around, doing their own chores, or selling their own items to each other.

It was something that was normal, that happened all the time. There was nothing particularly unique about this. But that was why Theron was so happy. It reminded him that things hadn’t been corrupted, that everything was going to be fine. It reminded him of how both the king and general had been taken care of, and now they could all truly live in peace.

His tribe did not leave the jungle, though. They had gotten used to living here. They had built their own customs and rituals, and become one with the land. It would be too difficult to just get up and leave. So here, they remained, although they may start getting business from citizens of the city soon. The idea opening up a trade between the two worlds sounded great, and even the chief had agreed to it.

However, there was one thing that had changed around here. And there’s where he was headed right now. He moved along the path, the same one that he had taken Rudy, Penny, Snap, and Barney on when they had arrived initially.

Soon he came to the same enclosure, with the hippogriffs locked up inside. He watched them, noting how they were all settled on the ground, their heads turning and twisting in bird-like styles.

This time, however, there was a new occupant.

Theron couldn’t help but smile as he stared down at the former general. Kairos laid on the ground, his stomach pressed against the dirt. His eyes were wide in fear and he looked as if he wanted to struggle. But the slightest movement induced a hiss from one of the hippogriffs. Another reached its head down and started to groom his head.

Kairos had pretty much become ‘one with the flock’, as one might say. He could not move as one of the hippogriffs had rested on him. He was accepted as a member, but he was the lowest ranking, and he wasn’t allowed to move from that spot.

The sight of Kairos looking so frightened and panicked, so claustrophic, made Theron’s smile broadened. Although the king had managed to escape without getting a proper punishment, Kairos would not be so lucky. The bird zoner would be trapped here forever, and he would be fed and given water so he would not perish here. This was his home now.

He thought back to Cameo. That zoner had recently returned to the city, likely to become the new general to whoever became the king. He had heard the decision was made, but he did not yet know who it was. And at the moment, he didn’t really care. So long as it wasn’t another King Zander, he was fine. The last thing Chalklantis needed was another greedy, selfish king who cared only about making some sort of unknown profit, or whatever King Zander had been attempting to do.

He could see a haunted look in Kairos’s eyes, and he could tell the bird was still rather haunted by what his brother did. Theron was shocked himself. It was not something he expected him to do, and on some level, he wondered if he went too far.

But at least Cameo’s actions had broken whatever courage and defiance was left in Kairos, making it impossible that he would ever try to hurt anyone again, even if he somehow regained the ability to walk and fly. It also made transporting him a lot easier. There was little resistance when they took him here to live among the hippogriffs.

“Enjoying your stay?” Theron said in a cooled voice.

Kairos’s eyes opened at this, and he stared up at Theron. He opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it. He quickly shut it.

“Yes, I thought so. I know it may be rough for a little while.” Theron waved his hand dismissively. “But don’t worry... You’ll get used to it soon.” He gave the bird zoner a twisted smile. “Soon you will repay your debt to those you had harmed... and so much more.”

Kairos shook his head a little. “Please... I-I had enough... Let me out...”

Theron gave a cold chuckle at this. “Like I’m going to do that. I’m not stupid, Kairos.” He glared at him. “As soon as I let you out, you will go back on your word and you will try to hurt someone.”

“With a broken back?!” Kairos wailed.

“You would find a way I’m sure.” Theron was lying of course. He knew the bird zoner couldn’t be much of a threat as he was. But still, he would never risk that chance of him being wrong. “Now if you excuse me, it’s feeding time.” He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “I know how much you love that.”

Kairos’s face paled at this. He tried to squirm underneath the hippogriffs. They let out a hiss, causing him to freeze. Theron smiled at this, and then he turned and walked away.

“No! Please don’t! Let me out of here! I can’t take it!”

Theron ignored the bird zoner’s cries as he went back into the heart of the village. The further away he went, the louder the bird zoner’s cries became.

“Come back! Let me go! Please! I’m sorry! I-I can’t take this anymore! Let me out! Let me out! Please!”

At this, other villagers lifted their heads up and turned to the source of the sound, a bit perplexed. They blinked their eyes a few times, and then they shrugged their shoulders and they continued on what they were doing.

Theron smiled as he heard Kairos’s cries continue to echo through the village. He watched as some of the villagers paused what they were doing, then, quickly losing interest, they continued on with their work as if nothing was happening. They were getting used to Kairos’s presence.

Theron continued to walk away, Kairos’s cries slowly fading, and replaced with silence. He could have sworn he could hear him start to cry.

sss

He couldn’t believe that this had happened. Of all the things.... why did this have to happen...? This was not what he had expected to happen. And now, he was paying the price for not being more vigilant.

He walked up the hill, or rather, he limped. His body was wracked in horrible pain. He felt as though he had been set on fire. He was covered in burns and cuts and scrapes. His whole body rumbled with agony, and he felt as though he was going to collapse at any time.

But he couldn’t stop. He would be in big trouble if someone found him here. He...He needed to hide somewhere, where he could heal. He needed to rest, something he hadn’t been able to do since that incident. If he could just get into the forest, he might stand a chance. Or at least to the mountains, where most of the Chalklantians don’t go anyway. Yes, he would be save there until his injuries had healed up.

How in the world did he survive that explosion, anyway? How could he have managed to escape from it alive? He was supposed to be dead. He was too close to the explosion. Just...how did he survive?

It was luck, he guessed. Perhaps his quick thinking managed to save him. But...could he really call himself lucky? He was quite badly hurt still, and there were a bunch of zoners who wanted him dead, or worse...

He moved himself along the path as quickly as possible. He pushed himself to go faster, his legs aching, his limping getting worse. He tried to ignore the pain the best he could, but that soon became an impossibility. He hit against one of his injuries and he let out a loud cry of pain. He let out a few tears of pain and he dropped to the ground.

He curled up in a small ball, his body quivering in pain. He shut his eyes tightly as he replayed what had happened recently.

Why was he so stupid? Why couldn’t he have seen this coming? Why did he have to do all of this without thinking through properly? He could have avoided this if he had just...

“Well well well....”

His heart nearly stopped. He recognized that voice anywhere. He started to shake as he struggled to get up. He just slid back down, letting out a cry of pain.

“Look who I have here...” The voice taunted him. He could hear the footsteps getting closer. “Why...if it isn’t the former king of Chalklantis. I thought you were dead.”

King Zander turned his head to look over at the zoner before him. He took in a few shaky breaths, his mind racing. How had this zoner found him? A part of him almost wished that he hadn’t miraculously survived the explosion from Cychreides. That would have been merciful compared to whatever this guy was going to do with him.

“I must say, you had been a very well trained king. Had you all wrapped up around my finger, per say.” The figure raised a claw up, twirling it around in the air to emphasize. “You did exactly as you were told, and I couldn’t be prouder of you for that.”

King Zander’s fear was temporarily pushed to the side as he recalled that this zoner had him do. He quaked with anger, his teeth gnashing against each other. “Y-You promised that if I had helped you... you would leave my kingdom and people alone..”

“Oh yes, I did promise that.” The zoner folded his arms behind is back, straightening himself up and giving him a twisted smile. “I had told you that if you destroyed Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez, I would pull back that disease..give you the cure...” He narrowed his mismatched eyes into slits. “Well you seemed to have failed in that department...”

The deer’s eyes widened in horror at this. He shook his head in denial, not wanting to believe what this might lead into. He looked up at the zoner pleadingly, hoping that he would listen to reason. But all the zoner did was glare at him coldly.

His mind raced rapidly. To think all of this happened because he had opened the doors to the wrong zoner. To think all this took place because he foolishly trusted him, and allowed him to get too close. It was his fault that the disease had been unleashed. It was his fault that many of his people had died. His was his fault that he had been forced into such a horrific deal.

This zoner promised to help him reverse it, but only if he tried to get rid of the two creators, and only if he placed all the blame on them. King Zander had never really hated the land dwellers; he had only been acting. He wanted so much to convince himself he was doing the right thing, to hide away from his guilt... and look at where it had gotten him.

He had even killed one of his own... Not because she defied him, but because he was terrified of what this zoner might do if he did not keep up the facade. This zoner was always watching him, and if he made one wrong move, if he said one wrong thing, he would go back on his deal.

It wasn’t just his own people he hurt. He had also hurt Rudy and his friends in some way. He busted Snap’s leg... He threatened to kill, to slit throats... He still felt a cold chill go through him, realizing just how far he had fallen to keep his people safe. He had allowed himself to be transformed into a monster. Even if he did return to his people, his horrible actions had tainted his reputation forever. They would never believe that he was sincerely sorry for what he had done, that he had never meant to hurt anyone this much, never meant for things to go this far...

Oh what a fool he had been... If only he had told Rudy and Penny the truth, then maybe this mess could have been avoided. Instead, he had become a coward, and he had allowed himself to be controlled by this zoner, like a puppet with strings.

“No...please...Don’t do this...” King Zander begged the zoner. “Please... have mercy... Skrawl...”

The jellybean zoner put his hands on his hips, giving off a nasty smile. “I don’t see any reason to keep up with the bargain. Not only did you fail to stop them, but you did not convince your people, oh I’m sorry, your former people to go the surface for me to make use of.”

“Please...you can’t...” King Zander gulped. He may have let his people down before, but he would not do it again. “Please..do with me what you wish, but leave my former people out of this. It’s not their fault I failed.”

Skrawl sneered at this. “I know. But I think I have a much better idea. Since you are here, and I already took care of General Kairos...”

King Zander widened his eyes at this.

“I think I should take care of you, too.” Skrawl tapped a claw against his chin. “Since your people no longer believe in you, they will want a new king. Perhaps...I will take up the mantle for that.”

“No...you can’t!” King Zander cried out.

Skrawl ignored him completely. He lowered himself down. King Zander struggled to get away. He was in too much pain to move, and he ended up slipping and his legs gave out. He let out a loud groan of pain. Skrawl seized his crown, which was bent and twisted from the explosion. He placed it on his own head.

“Ah...that’s much better! King Skrawl has a much better...ring to it..” He turned his head to the side, pressing two of his claws together. “Don’t you think so?”

“Please..” King Zander whimpered. “You can’t do this...! This isn’t fair! This isn’t what I agreed to!”

“I know, but what can I say? I have a habit of manipulating people. Master Tabootie could have told you all about that.” Skrawl jeered at him, holding up a hand in gesture. “I engineered this plan so that, no matter what, I would win. I would get what I want, and guess what? It worked.” He leaned himself forward slightly. “I will have control over your entire kingdom, and they will follow my every command. I will be a better king than you ever were, and then, when all is said and done, I will go to the surface and use your advanced army to take over the rest of ChalkZone!”

King Zander took in a few, horror-filled breaths at this. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for this zoner’s tricks. It was clear that Skrawl never would have helped from the start. He should have paid more attention to Barney’s information pods. If he had just read more on Skrawl, he would have realized that...

King Zander let out a grunt of pain as Skrawl grabbed him by his throat and forced him into the ground. He hissed in pain, looking up at Skrawl with one dark brown eye. He watched as Skrawl raised his hand up into the air, the claws glinting in the light.

“I just need to remove one more obstacle...”

“What? No...”

“Oh yes.” Skrawl chortled. “And why shouldn’t I? It’s not like anyone will ever trust you again. You’re such a pathetic zoner, King Zander. You played right into my trap, all for your pathetic, loser citizens. You could have avoided all of this, but instead, you actually trusted me.” His smile spread across his face, showing his crooked, horrid-looking teeth. “You’ve doomed your own people. Congratulations...”

King Zander shut his eyes and let a few tears flow forth. He knew the jellybean was right. This was his fault. He was supposed to protect his people and he only made things worse.

“Please....don’t...” King Zander begged, making a final attempt to live. “Please..think about what you’re doing...”

Skrawl chuckled darkly at this. “I know exactly what I’m doing. Now...” He raised his claws higher. “Any last words?”

King Zander shivered, staring at Skrawl in fear. His mind raced with thoughts as he thought of how he had gotten here. He thought he was helping save his people, but he realized too late that he was only helping this madman use them like tools. Whatever happened next to his people would be all his fault. He could not deny that.

Sorrow gripping his heart, guilt crashing down on him, he shut his eyes tightly. “I-I’m so sorry, everyone.” Tears stained his cheeks. “I-I didn’t mean for..”

That was when the claws came down.


End file.
